


To Do What You've Never Done - Part 1

by Bramblemask973



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-05
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2018-08-19 19:19:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 37,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8222012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bramblemask973/pseuds/Bramblemask973
Summary: With an unseen force beginning to wreak havoc inside of their own home, the four brothers will have to set aside fears and worries to help each other. But when one breaks off from the rest, bonds will struggle to stay in place, secrets are unleashed into the open, and enemies will take their chance to strike.





	1. Chapter 1

_“MIKEY!”_

The yell that resounded through the lair was a familiar one, but it was still sudden enough to catch him off guard. Leonardo gave a strangled grunt as his misstep sent his cut sideways, and instead of blocking his brother’s lab like he had intended, he stumbled right into it. Crumpling in on himself as Donatello began to mutter quick apologies and help him back onto his feet, Leo groaned and got up, glancing at the archway with an annoyed look on his face. This wasn’t the first time Raphael’s yelling had interrupted his training, and he was quite sure it would be the last time either.

“Mikey! Get over here so I can bash your head back into your shell!”

“What did he get himself into _now_?” Leo sighed, one hand rubbing the lasting ache from his sore plastron. Sure, his shell had taken the brunt of the hit, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. It wasn’t a bad enough injury that he would have to go get Master Splinter, though. He’d be fine in a few hours… once he handled whatever the shell was going on out in the living room. It wasn’t uncommon to hear yelling or fighting, especially from their brothers, but it wasn’t exactly pleasant to have to listen to. “This is the third time since this _morning_. It’s like Mikey’s asking to get his shell handed to him.”

“You know what he’s like when he can find easy ways to get on Raph’s nerves.” Donnie muttered, before the both of them cringed at the high-pitched shriek that came from their youngest brother. Shaking his head in exasperation, Leo led the way out to the living room, only to crash into his baby brother’s fleeing form. He didn’t get a chance to ask what was going on before Raphael was charging towards them with hellfire in his eyes.

“You are _so dead--!”_

“Raph, calm down! What the shell is going on? What is wrong with you?” Leo snapped, his voice gaining that deep ‘leader tone’ as Mikey called it. He didn’t mind the comment, but he had other things to focus on right now. Like holding his hotheaded brother back so that he didn’t break something or someone.

“What’s wrong with _me?!_ What’s wrong with him!? He bent my sai, that’s what’s wrong!”

Mikey popped his head out from where he was hiding behind Donnie, blue eyes widening at the glare that he received from his older brothers. He shrank back a little, fumbling for words before he pointed at Raph, almost accusingly, voice squeaky as he tried to defend himself from the blame set upon him.

“I didn’t know it was gonna bend! Maybe your weapons shouldn’t be so fragile!”

Leo immediately winced at that. Mikey was just egging Raphael on now, and he wasn’t exactly helping the situation to keep his brother calm. It was one thing to just make Raph mad, but now that they knew why he was mad, that brought up a whole different series of questions. The main one being how exactly they were going to get him to calm down again. Jerking back into the present as Raphael began to double his efforts to get to the freckled turtle and tear him apart, Leo shot a glance at Donnie, receiving a panicked look that screamed _‘Do something!’_

Putting a firm hand on Raph’s shoulder to regain his attention, Leo set his shoulders, standing up a little straighter as he always did when he wanted his little brother to listen to what he had to say. But the glare he got from those flaming green eyes wasn’t exactly comforting, and he honestly didn’t think Raph was going to listen to a word he had to say unless it involved an order or permission to rip into Mikey. Leo knew he wouldn’t actually hurt him, but they didn’t need Mikey getting beat up again.

“Raph, you need to calm down. We’ve all broken weapons before, so there’s no need to go nuts at Mikey for it. Okay? Donnie can fix your sai in no time, _right Donnie?”_

Quickly clueing in, Donatello gave a swift nod and a reassuring smile, shrugging as he looked to his red-masked brother. “It’s easy enough. All I have to do is heat it up enough to mold it back, and then do a bit of fine adjustments to get it back to you ready for battle. It won’t take more than an hour.”

Raph was silent for a moment, before his shoulders relaxed at the reassurance. Only then did Leo loosen his grip, though he didn’t pull away completely. With Raphael being so unpredictable all of the time, he had to be careful not to let his guard down too fast. It wouldn’t be the first time that Raph had feigned acceptance only to dart away and attack once more. All Leo hoped now was that Mikey would keep his bloody mouth _shut._

“Fine.” Raph finally mumbled, voice soft but not free of the anger he had contained in it. Leo knew he’d probably go after Mikey again later, but at least for now, the tense ordeal seemed to be over. Leo let Raph jerk out of his grip and pass the damaged sai over to their genius brother. Glancing at Donnie again before watching the hothead storm back to his room, Leo gave a sigh and nodded for Donnie to go. The lanky scientist peered at the bent prong for a moment and ran his hand over it before giving a smile and heading off to the lab, while Leo reached out and snagged Mikey’s shell as the youngest tried to scurry his way out of trouble.

Mikey squeaked as he was dragged back to Leo and looked up at his oldest brother, cringing away from the accusing look that he received from him. A sigh heaved from Leo’s chest as he watched Mikey give an innocent grin before flicking his eyes away and avoiding his gaze, making Leo shake his head in exasperation.

“Mikey, you can’t keep doing this. Are you nuts? You know how Raph gets about anybody touching his weapons, let alone breaking them.”

“I just needed something to prop my bed up for a sec so I could grab Ice Cream Kitty. I didn’t _mean_ to break it.” Mikey protested quickly, crossing his arms before scuffing the floor with his toes. “Maybe if Raph took care of his weapons, they wouldn’t break when I messed around with them--”

“That’s no excuse, Mikey. You can’t just egg him on every chance you get. Because quite frankly, if I have to listen to him yell at you one more time, I’m going to let him get you. I can’t defend you every time you do this.” Leo reprimanded him in a stern voice, but there was a tone beneath it. Almost frustrated, but partly just… done. “You need to go talk to him, and no more bugging him today, alright?”

“What!?” Mikey snapped, whipping around and staring up at him with round eyes. Leo knew that look; he was going for the puppy-eyes to try and get himself out of trouble, but it wouldn’t work on him this time. The youngest shook his head quickly, flinging his hands up into the air to emphasize his point. “I can’t go talk to him, Leo! Not right now, he’ll kill me! Well not really but you know what I mean!”

“It’s your own fault you got yourself into this. I can’t help you out of it again. So you _will_ go talk to Raph, or you aren’t going on the next mission.” Leo shook his head before giving Mikey a gentle swat over the back of his head, sighing a little bit once again. “The sooner you get it over with, the sooner everything goes back to normal. And the sooner you can order pizza.”

Mikey scowled, looking down. He knew Leo was right, and _Leo_ knew he knew Leo was right. So with that, the leader rubbed his little brother’s head and turned away, walking back to the dojo to clean up their training session. Mikey was going to have to figure out this one on his own, because one thing was for sure. Leo didn’t want to have to be the one that gets to talk to Raph. He’d done it before, again and again, and it was never fun. Raph always knew how to get under someone’s skin, and somehow, Leo could never figure out how to talk to him without sounding so… reprimanding all the time. Raph hated being talked down to, but somehow, it always came out that way.

Putting their training weapons back on the racks, he sighed, rubbing his plastron again. Donnie was sure excelling in their training now. He was really starting to focus more on the actual techniques rather than being preoccupied with about four other trains of thought. It had been a bit of a surprise to him this morning when Donnie entered and actually _offered_ to train with him. That didn’t happen often. Usually he was the only one enthusiastic about training, but perhaps with the ever-looming threat of Shredder slowly descending on them, that was changing. Raph always did well in training, though he tended to go a bit overboard a lot. Now if only he could get Mikey to focus…

Shrugging lightly, Leo departed the dojo, stretching for a moment before he leaped down onto the couch and grabbed the remote. Well there was one good thing coming from all of this. At least now with Raph in an angry pout and Mikey preoccupied with trying to figure out how to approach his brother, and Donnie working on the sai, he could have some time to himself. Smiling, Leo turned on the TV and glanced up at the clock. 10:57 A.M. Perfect.

Space Heroes was on in three minutes.

Leaning back against the couch, Leo turned on the right channel and waited for the commercials to pass so that he could rewatch his favourite series for the seventeenth time. Things would settle down in the lair and perhaps everything could go back to normal. Or, at least, as normal as it got for the four of them. He could at least hope so. Smiling as the familiar tune appeared, Leo relaxed, eyes locking on the screen as he allowed all the other worries of the day fade to the back of his mind, losing himself in the comforting bliss of his show.


	2. Chapter 2

It wasn’t hard to find Raph after he had stormed off. Though Mikey decided to play it safe and waited a good half hour before he so much as dared to go and see if Raph was calmed down enough to talk to. Truth be told, it took most of that time to convince himself to even go and try to see. He’d received the knuckle side of Raph’s hand far too many times in play-fighting and sibling rivalry to be lenient with his caution. Though he knew he had to keep up the stupidly friendly spirit to make sure he didn’t end up guilting his brother into forgiving him. He hated doing that; if he was going to be forgiven, he wanted it to be of their choice. He didn’t want them to do it because they felt bad. He wanted it to be sincere.

Mikey slowly nudged the door open to his brother’s room, bright blue eyes peering in just past the door. Raph was sitting on his bed, mumbling softly to the tiny alien turtle in his hands. Chompy was looking up at him fondly, tail wagging with every word Raph murmured, however upset the larger turtle might sound. Every so often, he’d give a little spurt of flame against Raphael’s plastron and nudge the spot with his beak, as if trying at some sort of comfort. There was a small urge that blossomed inside of Mikey’s stomach, one that kept poking at him to blurt out a tease about being soft, but the freckled turtle decided now was not the time to test his luck.

“Raph?”

Resisting the urge to wince as the piercing green eyes snapped up to him and narrowed instantly in warning, Mikey pulled the door open a bit further, heading into the room. If Raph didn’t want him here, he’d find out in a quick second. But to his honest surprise, all Raph did was glare at him for a while, eyes flicking over his before he finally gave an exasperated huff, rolling his eyes and looking back down to his pet. There was silence between them for a few moments before Raph looked up again with a low growl, eyes narrowing further.

“Are you just gonna stand there like you stepped in cat puke or are you gonna say something?”

Suddenly feeling overwhelmed and in the spotlight, one he wasn’t comfortable in, Mikey looked down at his toes. It was so much easier to focus on them. To recite their names in his head. They often changed places every once in a while, but he always remembered their names. Stubby, The Stinky Triplets, Joey Nails… but no. He had to focus here, even if it was hard to apologize. This was something that had to be done, like Leo said.

It wasn’t exactly something he did often. It wasn’t something any of them did very often. Apologizing was definitely not a forte of the four, unless the situation was utterly horrible. So dragging himself to do this was almost painful, and it wasn’t helping to make him any less anxious in the face of his brother. Pulling in a deep breath and letting it out, Mikey shook his head, glancing up at Raph again, rocking a little bit onto his heels.

“I didn’t mean to break your sai, Raph… I’m really sorry.”

_There. That’s good enough, right? Maybe? I’ll get him strawberries later… that’ll make it good again._

Eyes stuck to his feet as he waited for Raph’s verdict, Mikey couldn’t help but feel his stomach clench. It was always a wheel of fortune when it came to dealing with Raph's temper, so it could turn out really well, or really, really bad. But to be honest, he wasn’t all that scared of what Raph would do. It was what would happen if Raph didn’t choose to forgive him. He wasn’t sure he would be able to settle very well if his brother was still angry with him. Scuffing his toes against the floor, Mikey only felt the tension in the room rise as the silence continued on. Finally feeling like there needed to be something more, because that obviously wasn’t enough, Mikey took his nunchaku out of his belt.

_This has to be enough._

It was kind of amusing to see the sincere look of surprise on Raph’s face as his little brother tossed the weapon over to him, Mikey glanced up once again, this time not pulling his eyes away again. Raph caught them quickly enough to not hit Chompy, looking bewildered as he turned his gaze back up to Mikey. He stayed like that for a moment before tilting his head a bit more with a scowl and raising a brow, and Mikey shrugged a little bit, shoulders hunching as he looked back down.

“You can break them. I broke your sai… weapon for a weapon, right?”

He couldn’t tell if the tension relaxed or just grew more as once again, silence went between them. But thankfully, this time he didn’t have to wait nearly as long to get a significant response. Mikey clenched his eyes shut at the familiar sound of his chain clinking as the two handles were separated. Steeling himself for the sound of the chain snapping apart, Mikey jumped about a foot into the air when the nunchaku came whipping back at him and hitting him in the chest. Blinking in surprise and utter confusion, the youngest looked back up to his big brother, brow creasing.

To his further surprise and confusion, Raph was sort of half-smiling. Almost a smirk, but not all the way there. Shaking his head in amusement, Raph leaned back onto his palms and rolled his eyes again, nodding to the weapon that was now being placed back into the pocket of Mikey’s belt. He seemed a lot more relaxed now, anger having dissipated into mild satisfaction at having made Mikey so visibly uncomfortable for a while.

“I might be mad that you bent my sai out of shape, but I’m not gonna break your nunchucks for it. We might need those.”

That wasn’t something he had been expecting at all. Raph was actually turning down the chance to break something? Especially something of _Mikey’s?_ It was strange, but he wasn’t about to question it. The usual bright and delighted grin spread back over Mikey’s face and he bounded forward, hugging Raph quickly while his brother struggled in his grip, hissing between his teeth about how _‘if you don’t let go, I’m changing my mind’_. Of course he didn’t mean it, but Mikey let go anyways, squirming happily. Raph gave a huff and picked Chompy back up into his arms, before straightening his mask and rubbing his temple.

“Jeez, Mikey. All I said was I wouldn’t break your nunchucks, I didn’t say you could suffocate me.” he muttered in annoyance, but Mikey could hear that there was no anger beneath it. That was good. That meant that he was forgiven for real. A flicker of movement caught his eye as he looked away, and he quickly looked back to Raph’s face.

_Was that--?_

“Raph! I’m done!”

Words cutting off as Donatello’s call came from the livingroom, Mikey looked towards the door before glancing back at his brother. Raph was getting up now, and whatever had been there was gone now as he grabbed Mikey’s shoulders and spun him towards the door. Worry forgotten as he laughed and tried to struggle against it, Mikey flailed playfully, grinning once again as Raph gave another huff.

“Like I’m leaving you in here alone again. Don’t push your luck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, everybody! Thanksgiving weekend up here in Canada, but here we go! Chapter 2 is up and everything is all and well between Mikey and Raph again.
> 
> Of course, if you've read the fic before, you know some of what happens, but many things are changing, so keep a careful eye on what's going on in the story...!
> 
> I'll see if I can get Chapter 3 up tonight or even tomorrow, so keep an eye out!
> 
> Thanks so much for reading, likes are appreciated and reviews are pretty much freaked out over, so have fun!
> 
> ~Jeli


	3. Chapter 3

As they walked back out into the living room, Donnie was seated on the bean bag, adjusting the fabric around the handle of Raph’s sai. He seemed pretty pleased with himself, looking up at his brothers with his trademark gap-toothed grin as they entered, getting to his feet. The sai itself was fixed up, looking shiny and almost brand new, besides the worn colored fabric that wrapped around its handle. Even though he was only supposed to repair it, it seemed like Donnie had gone out of his way to make it, quite literally-

“Good as new.” Donnie greeted them, tucking the end of the fabric into the end and holding the sai out to Raphael as the two brothers headed over to him. Raph took his weapon from his brother with a relieved grin, flipping it up for a moment to test the balance. After a few short jabs to an imaginary enemy, Raph seemed pretty pleased. It felt great and as if nothing had happened to it in the first place, which was absolutely perfect in his opinion. When Donatello said he could fix something, he really meant it, which was something Raphael was quite grateful for.

“It’s awesome, Don. Thanks.” Shooting his brother a smile, which was returned, Raph watched Donnie head back to the lab before allowing the smile to turn into a smirk. He turned his head over to the youngest brother, who immediately tensed up, blue eyes growing wide and round at the look of the grin on his brother’s face. Raph tilted his head a little, flipping his newly-repaired sai through his fingers before he pointed it at Mikey, green eyes narrowing in mischief. “How about we test the repairs?” he asked, amusing himself with the look on Mikey’s face before lunging playfully at his baby brother, who shrieked and bolted the instant Raph even moved.

With a half-terrified yell, Mikey quickly ran off around the living room, flipping overtop of Leo to make the best attempt he could at avoiding the brother chasing after him. Raph didn’t bother to stop and see the exasperated glare that Leo bored into their shells, too focused on his pursuit. Their chase quickly turned into a cat-and-mouse game, Mikey’s panicked shrieks changing to giddy laughter after a few laps around the lair. It finally ended with Mikey basically collapsing onto Leo’s lap in his over-dramatic fashion, panting but happy as he looked up at the eldest. Leo rolled his eyes and shoved him off, giving a huff at Mikey’s indignant grunt, while Raph finally put his sai back into his belt and took the seat beside their _very_ annoyed leader.

“Which episode is this?”

“It’s Space Heroes. I didn’t think you cared about it or anything related to it.”

“Who said I did?” Raph shot back, smirk still plastered over his smug face as he leaned back on his palms, turning his gaze back to the TV. “But it’s funny to watch that whole serious leader look you have going on crumble as soon as you get a chance to let out your _inner nerd-”_ Cutting off with a grunt, brought on by Leonardo’s elbow meeting his stomach, Raph gave a winded snicker as Leo rolled his eyes and shook his head. Though the blue-masked turtle seemed pleased with the short victory, he reached over and snatched the remote away from Mikey, turning the TV up a few notches to drown out the sound of Mikey trying – and failing – to hum the theme song.

After a few episodes, despite the complaining and fidgeting, the three were all indulged in the show. Mikey had shifted onto his plastron, chin in his hands as he watched the cartoon with a smile, while Raph had gone to his room and returned with Chompy, trying to pretend like he wasn’t watching, though his eyes kept flicking up to the screen. Leo didn’t seem to care whether they paid attention or not, only looking away from the TV as Donnie came out of the lab to join them, laptop in hand. The genius didn’t pay any attention to the show, but it was nice to have the company of his brothers as he worked, especially since they weren’t rushing around breaking things he would need to fix later on. Raph seemed to relax to the company of his brothers as well, stretching as the episode ended and reaching up to rub the side of his head gently as Leo skipped ahead to the next episode.

Before it could, however, the four of them jumped at the familiar chimes of one of their phones going off. A quick search around found it to be Donnie’s, the caller ID telling them that April was calling. Thinking nothing of it, Raph shrugged as Donnie answered the phone, nudging Leo to hit play. Donnie nodded, waving for Leo to continue as he got up and moved away, so his call didn’t end up disturbing their viewing experience. Mikey barely even noticed, poking Leo’s leg to get him to just start it already.

_“Hey, April..”_

Surprised by the lack of stuttering, Raph glanced up at Donnie, blinking a little at how calm he was. Then again, after everything that happened, he had no reason to be nervous with the girl anymore. Shaking his head in amusement, Raph turned his attention back to the TV, watching Captain Ryan slap his first mate all over again. It only took a few moments for a tingle down his neck to steal his attention away again, looking back up to Donnie as his brother’s demeanor changed from friendly conversation to concern. He’d lowered his voice, murmuring quickly and seemed to be trying to calm down their friend.

Naturally, that caught the attention of the other two as well. Leo muted the TV and got up, just nodding for Donnie to continue his conversation. Donnie glanced over at them and raised his hand for a moment, finishing off before hanging up with the reassurance that they would be there in a few minutes. Shaking his head as he hung up, he put his phone back into his belt, looking over at his brothers.

“April said that Rahzar and some of those new elite robots are hanging out on her street-”

“Oh, the Chromedomes?” Mikey piped up, quieting down once more with an annoyed glance from his immediate older brother, giving an apologetic grin before listening as Donnie continued.

“Yes, Mikey, the Chromedomes. She said they’re just outside her dad’s apartment… and that they look like they’re waiting for us.”

Leo was silent as he listened, eyes flicking over the floor before looking at each of his brothers, narrowing slightly. He didn’t even need to say a word before Mikey bounced off to his room to grab his nunchucks, while Raph gave a shrug and got to his feet. Leo nodded at their responses, reaching down and picking his katanas up from the couch, sliding the strap over his shoulder and latching it onto his belt, adjusting them before looking up to Donnie again.

“They probably are. But whether it’s a trap or not, they can’t stay there. There are too many civilians in that area, the kids’ park is just across that street. We all know Rahzar doesn’t care if people get hurt or not. So if we do this, we have to at least try and keep it quiet. The last thing we need is for noise to draw out humans and an innocent ending up getting hurt.”

“April’s gonna meet us outside.” Donnie replied, nodding before he snatched his bō staff out of the air as Mikey threw it at him. “She’ll sneak out onto the rooftop and get down into the alley. She just has to distract Mr. O’Neil first.”

“Get her to text Casey too. I’ll need him to keep an eye out for people and to keep them away from the fight. Normally it wouldn’t be so bad but the thing with April’s area is the amount of apartments around there. Its all homes, not shops.” Leo muttered, half to himself as Donnie shot off the text, slipping his bō into the sheath on his shell. Raph stretched and cracked his neck, giving a grin to his brothers.

“So what are we waiting for, then? Lets go!”


	4. Chapter 4

Two pairs of white eyes peered out from the darkness of the alley, one lined with red, the other a dark ocean blue. Raphael crouched down behind Leonardo, eyes flicking around at the adjacent streets while they waited for their brothers to appear. So far, everything was silent, but they all knew that meant nothing at all when it came to the world of ninjas. Battling enemies with the same skill set meant that silence was dangerous, not to mention suspicious; it was never very safe. It was for that reason that Raph could feel the tension radiating from Leo as his brother watched for movement. His brother was ready for anything, waiting for the ambush, or the inevitable attack that was bound to come along at any moment.

As Donnie and Mikey dropped down beside them in the shadows, Raph could see the confusion in Leo's eyes as he glanced over at his brother before taking the watch while Leo shifted back to talk to them. He didn't even have to ask the question of where April was, Donnie gently shaking his head as his brother looked at him. He nodded back up to the apartment above them, giving a soft sigh.

"She needs to keep Mr. O'Neil from coming out to see. He's supposed to be going out so she's trying to find a way to keep him out of the crossfire."

Leo nodded in understanding, sighing softly as he moved back to Raph's side. Raph could tell he was disappointed, but he didn't mention it, eyes locked on the sight of the mutant dog and the few elite soldiers accompanying him. Rahzar was tense, his glowing amber eyes glaring around at the streets, but he seemed to be focused on the one ahead of him. The robots around him stayed silent, keeping their ground and keeping a watch out. Pulling back into the alley so he didn't get spotted as one of the robots turned to look their way, Raph shot a look at Leo, a slight growl under his breath as he spoke.

"They're waiting for us. There's no way this isn't an ambush." Raph muttered, glancing around at his brothers. Donnie gave a sigh, shaking his head as he pulled his staff out from its sheath on his back, while Mikey took out his nunchucks. His brothers seemed as displeased with this as he was, but that was to be expected. Leo held up his hand, glancing at them before looking back out of the alley, eyes narrowed. Raph let his hand pause on the handle of his sai, confused on why Leo was getting them to wait. All he wanted to do was lunge in and beat the bones out of the mutt, but he was pretty sure Leo wouldn't appreciate that.

"If they were waiting for us, they wouldn't be watching the street. They'd be on the rooftops. They know we wouldn't just walk out into the open like-"

"-Like we are now?"

"Yes, Raphael, _like we are now_." Leo retorted, giving his brother a look as he turned back to them. "The _point is_ , they aren't waiting for us. There's got to be someone else they're here for. Maybe if we wait a few minutes, we'll find out who."

"Yeah, right, cause waiting and watching has _always_ worked out well for us." Raph huffed, rolling his eyes as he let his hand take his sai out of his belt anyways. He hated waiting, because there could be something else they were doing. They _could_ already be battling, but no, Leo wanted them to wait and see. Cue four hours of silence and stiff joints cause they weren't going anywhere for a while. But at least he had enough imagination to contemplate what he was going to do once he finally got his hands on that dog's mangy face. Maybe beat it into the ground for thinking he could come out here without being driven off. Maybe carve a friendly letter into his skull to take back to Shredder… now that was an amusing picture.

To his surprise, their wait didn't take long at all. Raph jerked in surprise as he heard a vehicle come down the street, peering out again. Rahzar had tensed up, and his eyes were locked on the end of the street, as well as all of the elites. This didn't seem like it was going to end well. That conclusion was confirmed as a familiar white van came shooting around the corner, a flash of shock shooting through him as he immediately clung to his weapons, ready for an attack.

"The Kraang are back?"

"Looks like it." Leo muttered softly, drawing his katana from their _saya._ This was no longer a stealth mission, this was turning into a defensive one. Donnie and Mikey had their respective weapons in their hands in a second, tensed and ready to go. Raph growled softly as he kept his eyes on the van as it rushed for the small group of Foot, listening to the engine slowly get louder as it sped up. It wasn't going to stop and they all knew it. Including the Foot, as Rahzar changed his stance to brace himself, a grin spread over the canine's face.

The van slammed into him at full force, but with the preparation, that didn't seem to stop the mutant at all. Rahzar gave an audible grunt as he was rammed into, but dug his long claws into the sides of the van, before suddenly slicing them down through the metal and into the tires. There was a long squeal as all of the air flooded out of the tires, the van stuck now as the Elites lunged forward, tearing into the doors to get them open. Blasts from Kraang lasers followed, and Rahzar stalked towards the back of the van, picking up a glowing blue-green canister from where it had fallen out.

 _Mutagen._ Raph's eyes widened as he watched, glancing at Leo. The look on his brother's face was grim, and told him all he needed to know. If Shredder was sending his lackeys out for mutagen, setting ambushes and raids for the Kraang… then whatever the reason was, it couldn't be a good one. Adjusting his grip on his sai, he waited for Leo's hand flick, and bolted out with his leader's call of warning from behind them.

"Not a single canister of mutagen goes with them! Donnie, Mikey, go around that side, me and Raph will cover here."

He didn't bother listening to the rest. Raphael leaped up and slammed his foot into the side of Rahzar's face, stabbing his sai into the edge of the van's back doors and using his momentum to swing himself up on top of the van. Glaring down at the Foot henchman with narrowed eyes, Raph gave a low growl, though his lips drew back into a cocky grin. He waited until the dog shook off the daze from the kick and turned his glowing amber eyes up to him, a snarl coming from his throat. Raph flipped his sai in his hand, tilting his head mockingly.

"What's the matter, fleabag? You didn't think you were gonna get away without a fight, did you?"

"I'll take this, thanks!" Before Rahzar could respond, Michelangelo shot between the two of them, tackling the mutagen out of Rahzar's hand. He fumbled with it for a moment before turning and flipping up on top of the van to land just behind Raph, grinning as he gave his older brother a fist bump. Their moment was short lived, however, as Rahzar slammed into the side of the van to throw them off, his claws swinging dangerously close to Raph's face as he and Mikey scrambled back. Glancing at his brother, Raph pointed up to one of the rooftops, teeth grit together.

"Get up there and hide! We'll be right behind you with the rest." Raph snapped, turning to face Rahzar head on. He didn't wait for Mikey's response, lunging back towards the dog and giving a few sharp jabs to the chest before jumping up with hard spin kick to his face. Ducking away from a swipe to his head, Raph grunted as he was kicked in the chest, skidding back before rolling back up onto his feet. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Mikey's flicker of orange and screen bolt up the side of one of the apartments, Donnie backing him up on the ground.

"You should have stayed home, turtle." Rahzar's snarl brought him back to the fight. Raph shifted his feet to brace himself, bringing his sai up in front of his face, taking the moment to glance around. He could hear Leo struggling to keep the Elites away from the van, and to keep the Kraang from shooting him in the back. Mikey was on the rooftop, and he couldn't see Donnie anymore, but he could hear his yell from further off.

_We're all separated. This isn't good._

Shaking himself to focus again, Raph cursed as he stumbled back, Rahzar's claws slicing into his arm. _Focus, damn it!_ Mentally slapping himself to get back into the fight, Raph lunged forward, but Rahzar was ready for him. A blinding pain slammed into his head as the dog's jaws snapped down on his shoulder, and then there was nothing as Raph tumbled through the air. Flailing to try and get a hold of himself, the turtle smashed into the supports of one of the concrete balconies, slipping back down onto the ground. In the groggy daze that followed, the vague realization that Rahzar must have thrown him drifted through his head, before something else slammed into it.

Pain radiated from his temple as he was kicked back beneath the balcony again, his vision blurry as Rahzar's dark form hovered over him. Raph flinched at the sound of shuriken whizzing past his head, panting as he trembled, trying to push himself up. He could hear Leo yelling a threat to Rahzar, unable to really make out the words, before the dog gave a dangerous scoff and whipped around, slamming his claws through the supports.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to apologize for the long wait for this chapter. College got back into the heavy parts and it was hard to keep up with it, but now that my muse is back and everything seems to be back on track, I'm looking forward to continuing the rewrite and keeping the story moving!
> 
> We FINALLY have some action going on, and don't worry; the next chapter will be out later this week. I'm looking forward to getting back onto regular updates every weekend, either Friday nights or Saturdays.
> 
> Thanks for your patience, guys! See you again soon!
> 
> ~Jeli


	5. Chapter 5

Raphael barely heard his brother’s yell over the sound of the concrete crumbling and smashing down around him. All he could do was cover his head in a vain attempt to protect himself from the falling debris, but he knew he wasn’t getting out of this without a good bit of bruising. The moment of terror ended with a vague sensation of being crushed; most of the balcony had crumbled and fell onto him, pinning his young body to the ground. Dizzy and beginning to grow aware of the pain throbbing in his head, Raph gave a feeble grunt as he struggled to free himself from the rock, straining against the ground to pull himself free.

_Come on… Can’t stay here like a sitting duck. They need you out there. You have to move, you promised Mikey. **Move.**_

His self-pep-talk was enough to get his body into action, but it quickly became apparent that he was going to need more than just confidence and willpower to get himself out. His shell was pinned under the largest slab, and his legs weren’t much better off. The only things he could move were his head and his arms, despite the wounds scratched over them. Being pinned on his plastron kept him still and caught at an angle awkward enough to make using his arms to push anything off too difficult to do.

The suffocating feeling of claustrophobia washed over him. Raph quickly fought to get a hold of himself before he ended up panicking. Freaking out wasn’t going to help him get out of this mess. His brothers would get him out. Leo had seen him fall. He would never leave him there, no matter what happened. Speaking of Leo… was that his voice yelling from the other side? Raph gave himself a shake to focus, managing to clear his head little by little. Once he calmed himself down enough to listen properly, he became aware that he could still hear the fight going on outside.

Feeling some strange liquid run down his face, Raph lifted his hand to wipe it off. What did Rahzar do? Cut through a water pipe on top of ripping down balconies on unsuspecting turtles? Giving a frustrated grunt as he tried to tug his legs free, Raph panted softly, hearing the concrete above him shift. He stiffened, ready for it to rearrange on top of him.

Instead, a small chunk of it came loose, though it did crack him in the head. Raph cringed as pain radiated through his skull, making his vision blur and his mind feel cloudy and numb. Shoving the chunk of concrete away with an angry hiss, as if it had hit him on purpose, Raph looked back up before quickly covering his face as a shower of dust fell over him as more of the pile moved. Wincing as he glanced up once the sound stopped, he got a flash of Donnie’s face, but his words were too far away and muffled for Raph to make out what he was saying. Suddenly Donnie was gone in a flash of black, and there was a hand reaching for him with long grey claws, eager and ready to tear his flesh from his bones layer by layer…

Twisting weakly as he was dragged out of the pile, Raph let go of a sharp yell once he was free. Partly to warn his brothers that he was currently being turtle-handled by one of the biggest jerks in the Foot, and partly from the pain of the scales and skin on his legs being ripped and turn as he was pulled out. He had no desire to be dragged around by a giant mutt, so he twisted his form as soon as he was free, doing his best to dislodge Rahzar’s grip. He didn’t get to do much before he was slammed back into the ground, his mind whirling with that continuous throbbing pain and confusion that came with head butting concrete.

Hearing a shallow grunt from above, Raph forced his eyes to open. Rahzar was looking furious, but his anger, for once, wasn’t aimed at the hot-headed turtle he held in his grasp. A Kraangdroid had bumped into him while it fought one of the Foot Elites, only now noticing the mutant dog behind it. Raph flinched as the Elite’s sword went through the bot’s head. Sparks flew before the bot collapsed, a long rod held in its hand.

“This seems interesting.” Rahzar grinned, giving Raphael a dangerous look as he leaned down and picked up the Kraang rod. At once, Raph recognized it as one of the electric prods the Kraang had been using on Leatherhead when they’d first met the gator. Those prods had brought down the massive reptile in seconds… there was no telling what it would do to a half-conscious turtle.

**_Move, Raphael. Now!_ **

Taking his chance while Rahzar thought he had him pinned, Raph slipped a small knife from his wrist and promptly stabbed it into the dog’s arm. He was released with a pained howl that cracked through the night, and Raph quickly rolled back to get out of the way. He lunged to get back to his brothers despite his wounds, knowing that if he stayed over here, he was dead meat.

He didn’t make it very far.

A shriek sounded over the battlefield as the rod slammed into the softer shell of his side. His shell didn’t help to dissipate the shock, only giving him a bigger area to hurt. He’d only been shocked a few times before – once by Shredder when he’d thrown him into the hotel sign back at their first encounter. That one hurt, sure, and made him black out for a few minutes, but that was _nothing_ compared to this. The Kraang rods were supercharged, sending electricity through him that only took seconds to sap every ounce of his strength.

Convulsing and thrashing as the shock went through him, Raph swayed as the rod was pulled away. He managed one small step forward before his body gave out, sending him crashing into the ground. Raphael grunted as he collapsed, pulling ragged breaths into his lungs. Everything hurt… one good thing was that the pain in his head had vanished now. Even if it was only because the rest of his body hurt so much that he really couldn’t notice it. His vision was blurring over and his brothers’ yells sounded muffled, as if they were yelling from behind a series of curtains. Something wasn’t right… he hurt too much.

_“Raph!”_

_“Don’t you lay a filthy claw on him!”_

Raph let go of a weak groan as he was grabbed again by not-so-gentle hands. He tried to open his eyes, but there wasn’t much point seeing as everything was too blurred to make out.

“ _Raphael!”_

_“Leo, they got Raph!”_

Who had him? What was going on? Raph grunted as he was thrown down onto something cold and hard, much smoother than the concrete outside. His arms were dragged behind his back and tied together. It seemed kind of impractical to him… it wasn’t like he could go very far in a state like this.

“Go.”

Rahzar’s voice growled from somewhere above him, and an engine rumbled to life. He could feel the vibrations of it through the floor… they must have him in a van. That.. wasn’t a good sign.

“ _Raph’s in the van! Mikey, get that to April and get back here!”_

_“Go! We have to get h--!”_

Their voices cut off as the doors slammed shut. A sudden rush of fear went through the injured turtle as the vehicle started to move. He was alone. He had no idea what was going to happen to him or why they were taking him, but heck, it wasn’t going to be fun either way. He had to get out somehow. Letting go of a low growl, Raph clenched his fists and began twisting, trying to break the ropes that held his hands. Almost instantly, he heard Rahzar give an exasperated growl, muttering something about not having time for this.

Someone grabbed his head, lifting him up slightly. Raph hissed, squirming in protest as a shot of dread went through him before it was followed by pain as he was thrown back down, his head rammed into the van’s floor. The pain left him with a low throb before he fell back into the blissful darkness of unconsciousness.

* * *

 

“ _..the turt… he awake… yet?”_

_“No, M-… sure to… -kes up.”_

He recognized the voices, but it took a while before he was able to wake up enough to process what they said. Raph didn’t bother to try and move for a few minutes, instead allowing himself time to figure out where he was. It didn’t smell like the sickly cleanliness of the Foot base, or anywhere he recognized. At least they hadn’t taken him into the sewers as bait, or he would have known that smell instantly. The turtle could hear movement around him, including the signature clinking of metal that instinctively sent chills down his spine. That sound never meant anything good.

Forcing himself to focus again, Raph frowned before he let his hands shift. The rope had been removed and replaced with chains, his hands still held behind his back. The muscles in his shoulders had begun to ache from holding the position for so long, but that was the least of his worries at the moment. Whatever he was lying on was hard and horribly cold; it felt a lot like concrete. But as soon as he turned his hand, he felt freezing metal bars behind him.

_Well, shit._

It was a few minutes of silence before he dared to open his eyes. Only a little, just enough to get a look around at what was going on. He didn’t want it apparent that he was awake yet. Immediately, Raphael wished he could go back to being out cold. Rahzar’s bony feet were standing in front of the cage, facing away from him, and just beyond that he could see Shredder’s shiny metal boots. The Foot Master was pacing impatiently, obviously waiting to tear into the turtle. But it was never any fun if he wasn’t awake to feel it.

Despite seeing what he could, Raph still didn’t recognize where he was. That couldn’t be a good sign. In a strange place with his family’s biggest threat and his henchmen, injured and tied up with no back up and no reinforcements that he knew of. Heck, he didn’t even know if his brothers were on their way. They might not even find him. Well, he trusted they would, but at the same time there was always that nagging anxiety that maybe this time they’d be too late.

_This isn’t gonna end well._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to apologize right now. I need to stop saying I'm gonna update and then not do exactly that for like a month.  
> Oh well. Here we go, guys!  
> ~Jeli


	6. Chapter 6

_“Leo, they got Raph!”_

Donatello’s frantic yell caught his attention enough to tell him that he needed to end this fight _now._ The entire situation had turned around. Leo growled, eyeing the canister of mutagen in the Elite’s grip. Adjusting his hand on his swords, Leonardo lunged in with a yell, ducking out of the way of a punch and sliding underneath the bot’s legs. A swift kick off of the street and Leo whipped himself around in midair, the streetlights reflecting off of the incoming sword.

His battle with the Elite cut off with the final slice of his katana, letting the robot’s head tumble onto the asphalt of the emptying street. It took a moment to process the situation, and as he did, Leo grit his teeth. This simple mission was going absolutely haywire. Not only had they caused more commotion and collateral damage than he would have ever liked, now things were taking a turn for the worse. Shaking his head, he whipped around and rushed back to his brothers, blue eyes set on the van as the engine started up and the vehicle took off.

“Raph’s in the van!” Donnie yelled, blocking a final laser from the Kraangdroids. His staff moved faster than anyone else could ever have manipulated it, the blade coming out and slicing through the droid’s head. The lanky turtle didn’t even wait for the pieces to crumble onto the ground; he was already heading over to his leader, eyes wide. Leo couldn’t help but flick his eyes over the purple-masked turtle, taking in the bruises and cuts. They were all injured, but right now they had more to worry about than a few bruises. Finally, Leonardo gave a quick nod, getting himself back into his position and pointing to the van.

“Go! We have to get him!” he ordered, not watching to see if Donnie had obeyed before whirling around and pointing to Mikey. The freckled turtle had his eyes on the van, wide with dismay and worry, but his attention went to his leader as he started speaking, obviously eager to have something to do that would help. “Mikey, get that to April and meet us there. I’ll text you when we figure out where it is.” Mikey nodded and grabbed the canister from mutagen from the fallen droid’s hands – _hadn’t he brought that to the rooftop? –_ before lunging for the fire escape on the side of the apartment that hadn’t caved in. Confident that his little brother would do as told, Leo turned and darted down the street on the van’s trail, the scent of exhaust still rank in the air.

It was easy to catch up with Donatello. The van was long gone out of sight, both turtles slowing to a stop to catch their breath as they stared down the street after the trail. Putting his hands over his head to help calm his gasping breaths, Leo glared down the empty road. _It was an ambush after all. Raph was right._ They must have used the Kraang as a distraction to get to them. Now they had Raph because he couldn’t see through the ruse and get sight of the obvious situation.

“What do we do?” Donnie panted. He had a nasty gash over one cheek, though he didn’t seem too bothered by it or the rest of his wounds. Leonardo was well aware of the bruises on his brother, and he was pretty sure he looked the same way. Even so, he barely felt his wounds. He could worry about first aid later; they had to get their hot-headed brother back first. They couldn’t just go home to Splinter without him. There was no telling what would happen to him in the time it took to get back to the lair, form a plan and follow through with it.

“We find out where he is and we go get him. Mikey’s getting the mutagen to safety and then he’ll meet up with us once we find where they took Raph.” Leo replied, only now realizing he had his katanas out the entire time. Quickly placing them back in their sheaths, the leader watched the city. The Foot and Kraang would be on their way to the battle to clean up their mess, to make sure that some curious human didn’t stumble upon their property. One thing about battling the two armies was that they were always strangely good at cleaning up their messes.

Movement caught his eye and for a moment he expected another ambush to pop out of nowhere, but instead Leo felt a flood of embarrassment as a white rat poked its head out from the street corner. It scampered out into the open and sniffed at the van tracks on the road, before deciding it wanted a discarded piece of hotdog lying beside a trash can instead. Leo shook his head, forcing himself to calm down as he watched the rat nibble at the bun. He was too jumpy for his own good.

Glancing over to see if Donnie was the same, Leonardo felt another rush of shame as he noticed his brother with his arms crossed. The expression on his face clearly explained that he’d said something and was waiting for a reply, and that he’d already noticed that Leo had clearly _not_ been paying attention to a single word of what he’d said. Leo gave a sheepish grin, rubbing the back of his neck.

“S-Sorry. What were you saying?”

“I _said_ that they’re headed down towards the docks.” Donatello huffed in reply, scowling as he caught on to Leonardo’s lack of attention. Turning his phone to show his brother the screen, Donnie pointed to the pulsing red dot on the phone, and then down the horizon in the direction it was moving. “They’re taking Raph down there.”

 _They’re leading us into a place that they have the advantage._ Leo’s thoughts narrowed into strategy, his brow creasing as he glanced over the device and then turned away. His hand fell from his neck to his chest, his thumb sliding beneath the straps. Tugging at the straps across his plastron helped to vent some of the anxiety, but he knew he couldn’t relax until they were all home and safe again. He’d _hoped_ to be home in time to get a decent sleep, but that wasn’t working out the way he planned it to. Taking a deep breath, Leo let it out slow, nodding once he’d gathered his thoughts.

“Alright. As soon as they stop moving, text Mikey the location. We’ll head over there now and see if we can get Raph out before anything turns worse.” As much as they planned out, he knew that something would be thrown into it. It was still nice to have a basis to go off of. Donnie nodded and bolted after Leo as the eldest shot off over the rooftops, his steps light and silent. No further words were needed as they ran, the same thought ringing in both of their minds as if they’d shared it together.

_Get him back._

* * *

 

They’d only gone a few blocks when Donnie dug in his toes, bringing his pace up to run at Leo’s side. Glancing over at his brother, Leo set his eyes on the phone as it was held up. It was a bit hard to make out since they were both running and leaping over the rooftops. Nevertheless, it only took a moment for Leo to narrow his eyes and give Donnie a short nod to show he understood.

The red dot was now inside one of the old warehouses, an abandoned garage a few streets down from the docks. They’d been there before on one of their scouting missions. It was filled with crates of old fishing equipment. Years ago, it had been a popular warehouse for big time fishermen to get their gear, but it seemed to have been forgotten as of late. It worked out well for the whole secrecy part of their mission, given that there wouldn’t be any workers milling around while they fought the Foot and whoever they brought with them. At the same time, Leo didn’t want to walk in and find his brother speared on a harpoon, either.

_Okay, that wasn’t an image I needed in my head…_

If they had to face Shredder armed with harpoons and hooks and other horrible things, then so be it. They were going to get Raph back, and nothing was going to stop them.

Of course, they had to wait for their little brother first. If Shredder was in there, they had no chance on their own.

There was no sign of Mikey when they arrived. In fact, there was no sign of pretty much anything. The van wasn’t there, there were no guards, no vehicles around. Not even a bird. Something about it sent a chill down Leo’s spine, and a glance over to Donnie told him that his younger brother felt the same way. Donatello shifted on his feet, unease in every tense muscle of his form. It seemed cheesy to think, but it was far too quiet. There should be guards, Fishface, at least a M.O.U.S.E.R. but... there was nothing.

He didn’t like it.

“This seems like another trap.” Donatello hissed after a few minutes of waiting, crouching down beside Leo. The wind off of the sea was sending chills down his body, and it seemed kind of fitting. “They’re luring us into their territory. Rahzar knows we’re coming to get Raph; he’ll be waiting for us.”

“We’re still gonna kick their butts, though, right?” Leo drew his head up as Mikey’s voice sounded from behind them. The youngest leaped over the space between the rooftops with a neat flip, rolling over to stop beside his brothers and crouch down between them. Leo gave an amused smirk as he raised his fist and Donnie quickly met it with his own knuckles, before he turned his eyes back to the warehouse, now scanning for openings.

“Of course we are.” Leo replied after a moment, sitting back on his heels and pointing to the roof of the warehouse. “We’ll go in through there. Make a big entrance, scatter what we can. I have blinding powder.” Waving his brothers closer, he gathered some debris from the rooftop, beginning to make out a plan. “What we’ll do is go in like this, alright? Mikey, you go in here…”

_This is going to work._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aren't you guys proud? Two chapters in one night!!  
> ~Jeli


	7. Chapter 7

_Okay. Plan. Shredder’s right there. Rahzar’s right there. Pretty good chance there’s other guards beyond those doors. So… Not really anything I can take on alone. I **could** wait until something happens to distract them but then there’s still the issue of getting out of the cage… Do I have my lockpick? _ A quick squirm to feel for his tools gave him a negative for that aspect. _Damn. Okay. They took everything. Don’t have a knife either. Stupid mutt… Gonna break every claw off of his rotten hands—_

“Master, he’s awake.”

Raph froze as Rahzar’s voice broke his thoughts, only then realizing he’d been squirming and growling curses in his frustration. He glared up at the double-mutated dog, baring his teeth as Rahzar’s yellow eyes watched him. The moment of defiance sizzled away once heavy clunking of metal boots introduced Shredder’s approach. In the murky darkness of the warehouse, he could still see the confident gleam in the man’s eyes that sent a chill down Raphael’s spine, giving him the foreboding feeling that he wasn’t going to walk out of this. At least, without worse wounds to worry about.

“I suppose you’ll get to keep your head for now, Bradford.”

Well, there was no point in laying here and getting torn apart like one of Rahzar’s chew toys. Raph grunted and maneuvered himself enough to sit up, meeting Shredder’s cold gaze with his own glare. All his defiance did was make the man let go of an amused chuckle that didn’t sound the least bit friendly in _any_ aspect.

“I admire your spirit, turtle, but it will do nothing to help you now.” Shredder growled. “Take your final moments of peace with care. I have grown tired of chasing Hamato Yoshi through the years we have been apart. Tonight will mark the final night that I have to bother worrying myself with his petty existence.” The armored leader turned away, going back to where he had been watching the doors, though by his stance, Raph could tell that he was keeping an eye on the windows instead. He was obviously waiting for an attack. “Take your final breaths with gratitude that you’ve survived this long.”

He’d heard all of this before, so he was finding it a teensy bit hard to take Shredder’s threats seriously. Yet at the same time, his stomach was clenching with dread. Something Shredder had said made this whole thing seem like more than a simple bait-and-destroy plan. The man was too calm, too sure of himself. It was as if he was confident this would end the way he had planned it to. For the first time, Raphael realized just how old Shredder was. After over twenty years of hatred and chasing Splinter to try and destroy him, he had to be getting tired of it eventually. Would that stop him now?

…Probably not.

“You think you’re gonna win?” Raph hissed, baring his teeth at the back of Shredder’s head. “You’re just a _coward_. Hiding away and taking prisoners, luring enemies in instead of just facing us. There’s no hon--”

“Yoshi is the coward.” Saki glared over his shoulder to the turtle, making Raph feel like he could stare right into his soul despite the only eye visible was his blind one. “ _He_ is the one who refuses to face _me_. So I will take away everything he cares for until he decides to show his face and fight me like a man, instead of hiding away in the _filth_ like the rat he’s become.”

“Splinter will never give in to you.” Raph retorted. He was sure of that with every fiber of his being, at least for a moment. Quite quickly, his certainty faltered with the realization that prodded the back of his mind until he took notice.

Splinter would do _anything_ to keep his sons safe. Even if it meant walking into a trap and facing Oroku Saki on his own.

Shredder seemed to just ignore his protest, instead turning to face Rahzar with narrowed eyes. He snapped a quiet order in Japanese that Raph didn’t catch, but the meaning was made clear once some of the guards standing in the shadows of the room rushed off. Rahzar began to approach the confined turtle, a gleam rising in his glowing eyes as his tongue flicked out over his teeth. Raph realized with a pang from his injured shoulder that his blood was still present on the dog’s long fangs.

“Bradford.” Shredder growled, turning away once again and not looking back over his shoulder as he addressed his henchman. “You disappointed me with the state you presented the turtle to me today. I expected more from you. Take pride in your Clan’s colors from now on. I expect to see better results in the future.”

“Of course, Master Shredder… I’ll make amends to that right now.”

_Clan colors? …Oh. Black and Red… Oh boy._

Raph glowered at the approaching mutant, a growl rising in his throat as he watched his enemy come closer. Stupid mutt thought he was gonna be able to do anything else to him. Well, he was probably right, but that didn’t mean Raph couldn’t argue with himself about it. He quickly realized this would be his only chance, and Raph straightened up, his legs tensing as he readied himself to lunge into action.

_Might only have one shot at this… let’s make it a good one._

As soon as the cage door opened and Rahzar reached his massive skeletal hand inside to grab him, Raph rolled back onto the palms of his hands. Taking his weight into his own hands and feeling his shoulder tighten in protest, the turtle kicked out his feet and slammed his heels into the dog’s chin, trying to ignore the pain that resulted from straining his wounds. Rahzar jerked back with a sharp yelp, giving Raphael the chance he needed to lunge out of the cage. The few guards left in the room darted forward to stop his escape, drawing their weapons from their sheaths, but there was no need. Unfortunately for the young terrapin, Shredder got to him first.

He only managed to catch a glimpse of the incoming attack before Shredder’s foot slammed into his chest like a freight train. Raph was thrown back again the wall like a discarded rag, sinking down against it with a low groan. Even though his shell had absorbed most of the impact, it had still been strong enough to knock the sheer breath out of him. Fighting for air, Raphael struggled back up onto his knees, wheezes coming with every gasp he took. The kick had reopened his shoulder, letting blood trickle down his arm and leaving a skid mark on the wall where he had landed. Blood dripped to the floor in time with the sound of Shredder’s approach to his injured prey. Despite his pain and fear, Raph’s eyes still held the defiant flame from before, blazing brighter with every step the armored man took.

_Well… that didn’t work._

“Your determination is commendable, turtle. It could be put to better use if you were intelligent enough to use it.” Shredder grabbed him by the throat, lifting him clean off of the ground. Raph squirmed, trying to kick out at him as he choked, clenching his eyes shut. “Hamato Yoshi will only fall in the end. You know this. _He_ knows this. Every second he defies me is only extending the pain I will put him through in our final encounter. You do not have to share the same fate, if you so choose. I can make much better use of your skills. Far better than that pathetic excuse for a rat you call Master.”

_Is… he asking me to join the Foot?!_

Fighting off the spasms his lungs were giving as he struggled to breathe, Raph’s eyes flicked over Shredder’s face, widening in shock. To add on to his surprise, the man looked sincere. His offer was true, despite the fact that he literally had Raph by the throat. It was a stupid offer, one that shouldn’t even need an answer. Join the Foot? Go against Splinter and his brothers? Who did this guy think he was? And yet… to add on to the pain he was feeling, Raph felt a flood of guilt as he realized that for one small moment, he found himself actually _considering_ it.

**_I wouldn’t have to…_ ** _No. What the hell am I thinking? My place is with my brothers. They need me._

Shaking off his idiot thoughts and misgivings, Raph grit his teeth, holding his breath to stop his chest from screaming at him to breathe. It only took a moment to formulate what he wanted to say, and to word it in an appropriate way to answer such a stupid offer. It didn’t sound as sincere as he would have liked considering he couldn’t breathe very well, but he did his best to get the point across.

“If you think… t-that I’ll _ever…_ join you… You’re just as stupid as your lackeys. You think I’d actually say yes? To joining _you?_ A murderous… pathetic sack of crap… with half a face? The only thing you deserve… is to be torn apart.” Wincing as Shredder’s grip tightened, Raph sucked in a rough breath, his voice turning to a raspy hiss as he continued. “Besides… Every creature… you’ve ever enslaved… is or once was… h-human. Me? I’m a _turtle._ ”

To his surprise, Shredder’s hand let him go. Raph grunted as he was dropped to the floor, wincing once Shredder’s boot pinned him onto the concrete. The man looked furious, his fist clenching and the blade of his gauntlet extending into view. Despite the obvious threat, Raph couldn’t help but glare back up at him, offering a cocky grin. If he was gonna get sliced open, then he might as well go down defiant and determined. Taking a few seconds to regain as much breath as he could with Shredder’s weight pinning him to the floor, Raph hissed out his last response, teeth bared in a snarl.

“In other words… Not on your _life_.”

“Then it shall be on yours.” Shredder growled. “You cling so hard to your roots as an animal. Fine… then you’ll die like one. I will hang your broken shell on my wall as a _trophy_.”

As Shredder lifted his blade and death came rushing for him, Raph didn’t even have a chance to wince before the room exploded into a mass of purple and white.


	8. Chapter 8

For a moment, the stinging in his eyes distracted him from examining the situation. Raph clenched his eyes shit, effectively halting the pain from getting any worse. Listening to Shredder’s roar of frustration and pain, Raph caught the sharp _ting_ of his foe’s blade hitting the floor beside his head. Glass shards rained down around him, making soft _clinks_ as they hit the floor. The daze cleared up as Shredder’s boot left his chest and he could pull in a proper breath that wasn’t full of smoke and powder. Someone’s hands grabbed hold of his shoulders and helped him up. The three fingers told Raphael that it was family taking off his chains, and relief flooded through him, though it was quickly followed by annoyance and the same frustration Shredder must be feeling.

“Do you _mind?_ That was a little bit close.” Raph growled, climbing to his feet and rubbing his arms to get the blood flowing again. His shoulders felt like they were going to ache for days, but there was nothing he could do about that until they got home. He heard Donnie’s amused snort from behind him. Opening his eyes once the smell of the blinding powder vanished from the air, Raph glanced around at his brothers. Michelangelo and Leonardo were facing the Foot, keeping their injured brother behind them. Donnie wrapped his mask around the bite on Raph’s shoulder before handing him a pair of kunai.

“You’ll have to make this work until we can get you some sai.”

Raph nodded. He could use these just fine.

Snapping his attention up as Shredder recovered from his loss of vision, Raph took up an offensive stance behind his brothers. He was well aware that he was the one being protected, and as much as he didn’t enjoy it, he wasn’t about to protest. Sometimes being the one with three trained ninjas defending you wasn’t so bad, and he certainly appreciated it. The Foot were quickly flooding into the room, blocking off exits as they entered. Rahzar had shifted to one side, ready to attack at the slightest order. Facing Shredder with a glare, Raph shifted his feet, leaning close to Leo while the silent standoff continued.

“Plan, Fearless?”

“Uh…”

“You don’t have a _plan?!_ ”

“Just give me a second!” Leo snapped, shooting him a look. “We ran in here blind, I’m running as we go.” Taking a moment to look around and access their options, Leo gave a sharp nod towards some extension cords hanging from the rafters. “We’ll swing ourselves out the same way we got in. There’s enough cracks in the walls to support us and help us climb. Mikey, Donnie, you go first. I’ll send Raph right behind you, help him out. I’ll cover your shells.”

The two youngest nodded together, shifting around and readying themselves on either side of their older brothers, ready to rush off and make their escape. Before they could put their plan into action, Shredder stepped forward with a growl on his breath. Raph caught the light flick of his hand and only just braced himself in time before the first wave of the small army attacked. His brothers responded more ferociously than he expected, lunging forward and meeting the onslaught without hesitation. He didn’t get to see much, but he could hear the metal weapons clashing together. A Foot bot stabbed towards his side, raking his attention to the fight instead of his brothers. The already injured turtle hissed and blocked the attack with millimeters to spare, stabbing the kunai he held into the side of the bot’s head. Satisfaction snapped through him at the sound of crunching metal. It obviously wasn’t the same sound or sensation of a knife going through bone, but of course, if he drove a blade into the side of one of his brothers’ heads, he could always just compare the similarities tha—

 _What the hell?_ Raphael stumbled as he struggled to control his thoughts, pulling the knife out of the bot’s head as a chill went down his spine. Why was he thinking like that? Giving his head a shake to clear the thoughts, Raph returned to focus on the fight, trying his best to keep himself together. _I must’ve lost too much blood. I’m getting delirious._

Jerking back as Mikey was sent flying past him from a well-aimed kick, Raph wasn’t fast enough to avoid Rahzar’s attack. He was sent right after his brother, nearly landing on top of him. A quick twist of his body righted himself enough to kick off of the wall above Mikey and land in front of him instead of on top. Facing Rahzar’s charge with a yell, Raph leaped up, slashing a clean cut across the mutant’s cheek. A kick followed right after, pushing the dog back. The hotheaded turtle whipped around to help Mikey to his feet. His baby brother was sporting some new bruises, but he looked well enough as he took the help and climbed to his feet.

“Get to the cords. I’ll cover you.” Raph ordered, shoving him towards their escape route. Mikey nodded and rushed off, unlocking his kusarigama chain. He didn’t even need the cords, instead swinging his chain up to the rafters and pulling himself up without assistance. Raph glanced around, feeling a pang as he realized the state they were all in. Leo was separated on the far side of the room, taking on Shredder alone and actually managing to hold his own pretty well. Donnie was absolutely surrounded, struggling to keep a range that he could work with to use his bō effectively. Raph took a step to go help him, but found his path quickly blocked by the rapidly-becoming-annoying dog.

“Where do you think _you’re_ going?” Rahzar rumbled, growling roughly from his chest. “I’m not done with you yet, _reptile._ ”

“That’s funny, cause I’m pretty done with you, _mutt_.” Raph retorted, backing away a few paces. His ruse worked, drawing Rahzar back and away from Donnie’s predicament. Instead, he was backing towards Leo and Shredder. If he could get Rahzar in the way, it might give him and Leo enough time to get out. Keeping his focus on Rahzar, Raph grit his teeth, ready and prepared to fight his way out if this didn’t work the way he needed. Glancing over his shoulder, Raph mentally cursed as he saw the state Leo was in. Maybe he wasn’t doing as well in his battle as Raph had originally thought.

A slight shift of his foot steadied his weight enough to prepare for Rahzar’s lunge. Dodging to the side, the mutant’s momentum brought him barreling past his target and in between Leo and Shredder. Unwillingly blocking Shredder’s next attack, leaving Leo enough time and space to slip by to Raph’s side.

“Lets get out of here.” Leo hissed, rolling out of the way of the two Foot ninjas and rushing for their brothers. Raph followed along right behind him, his head feeling strange and dizzy. He’d felt like this before, when he’d gained a concussion from falling off of a rooftop, but he never enjoyed it. The turtle’s steps began to stumble and slow as he rushed after Leo, falling a few paces behind. Raph swayed on his feet as his vision went blurry. Vaguely hearing Leo call his name, Raph paused in his tracks, unable to go any further without collapsing. Flailing his hand out to grab a wall for support, he found Leo meeting his grasp instead, his brother’s arms wrapping around him to support him and keep him upright.

Raph leaned his weight on his brother, breaths coming in short gasps as he held his head. He felt ready to pass out. All he could hear was the blood rushing in his ears, the edges of his vision turning black. His arms were tingling and nausea was writhing in his stomach, but he couldn’t do much to stop it. Barely aware that Leo was urging him to keep moving, Raph stumbled along with the help, shivers coming from his form.

_What’s happening to me? I can’t have lost **this** much blood… did I? I dunno how long I was out… Maybe I did. God, my head…_

“We’re almost there. Hold on, Raph, I got you.” Leo’s voice broke through the rushing waters that he could hear in his ears, soft and comforting, but even in his strange fit, Raph could hear the stress underneath Leo’s voice. “Just keep walking, alright?”

Footsteps were rushing up behind them. Raph looked over his shoulder to see who it was, but all he got a glimpse of was a flash of red. Two more steps and something slammed him from Leo’s grasp, instead sending him tumbling to the floor underneath an incredible weight. Strands crisscrossed over his shell, keeping him pinned to the floor. Leo was still stubbornly holding tight to his hand, which Raph was grateful for, but honestly, they weren’t kids. It wasn’t exactly necessary. He should’ve just stabbed his hand. That’d make him let go.

_…what?_

No… No, he didn’t want to do that. These intrusive thoughts were getting out of control. Raph squeezed Leo’s hand for a moment to reassure him that he was still there, before wincing as the pain flared up again. His shoulder, his head, his side… He felt like he could barely move. Maybe he’d moved too fast after Donnie had untied him. That could be it.

Shaking his head after a short moment, Raph let go of a small groan, forcing his eyes to open. He could barely see anything, but he could just make out the metallic grey of the net holding him to the ground. Leo was squirming beside him, but the weight of the net was still too big for him. If he could just relax…

Relax. That sounded like a good idea.

“Raphael! Raph, are you okay?”

“Can you hear me…?”

“..Raph… -ld on!... -ou out… -omis-…”

Silence.


	9. Chapter 9

Well… this wasn’t going as planned. The intensity of the first attack was shocking, and though they met it with the same force, Donatello wasn’t prepared to be facing most of the bots on his own. It seemed like it had only taken an instant for them all to be separated and in their own little fights, but they were prepared. Donnie used the range his staff gave him to keep the Foot at bay, keeping a clear circle around him. He could hear Mikey taunting Rahzar from somewhere to his left, and Leo was off trying to keep Shredder from killing them all on his right. Raph was… somewhere. Safe, but he wasn’t exactly focused in the fight.

Donnie flinched as he heard Mikey yell, his attention drawn to their baby brother as he was sent flying. Oh. There’s Raph. Shaking off his distraction, Donnie lunged in and slammed the end of his bō into one of the heads facing him, before sending the same bot whipping into the others. Mikey and Raph could handle themselves. He had to focus on the small army keeping him away from his brothers. When he took down one, two more shifted forward in its place, and it was getting increasingly frustrating to continue the battle.

So much for Leo’s plan of a semi-easy escape.

Mikey wasn’t with Raph anymore. The massive form that was Rahzar was herding Raph back towards Shredder; or was Raph luring him away? Either way, Donnie didn’t like it. Both Rahzar and Shredder against Leo and Raph wouldn’t be a fair fight. He didn’t catch the rest of it, however. A well-aimed blow to his side had him jerk back to the fight, and Donnie extended the blade of his staff, slicing the bot in half. Whipping his naginata around, he lunged into the fray with the weapon, only to be literally swiped out of the air.

Shrieking in surprise and sudden terror, Donnie flailed, nearly dropping his staff in the process. The last thing he needed was to be carted off somewhere without his brothers knowing. They’d just barely found Raph with his phone, which was strange, considering phones were usually the first thing discarded if they didn’t want to be followed—

“Donnie, quit squirming or I’m dropping you!” Mikey yelled from above him. Donnie snapped his head up, only just realizing his little brother was holding him, swinging him towards the hanging cords on the warehouse ceiling. Mikey’s grip was tight on him as they swung over the room, finally letting Donatello go and tossing him to one of the extension cords. Donnie snapped his hand out and snatched the cord out of the air, clinging to it for dear life as he waited for his momentum to slow down. He swept his eyes over the room, aware of Mikey hanging from his kusarigama chain just above him. Both brothers locked eyes on their older companions, a distressed look coming over the face of the youngest.

“He was supposed to be right behind me.”

Donatello glanced at his baby brother, following his gaze to where Raph dodged away from Rahzar’s lunge. From above, it was much easier to catch the formation of the Footbots. His dark eyes widened as he watched the bots shift apart, his brothers easily falling for the technique and following the path given. They were being herded like cattle to where Shredder wanted them.

His yell of warning wasn’t fast enough. Raphael had stumbled to a stop in the worst possible place. Of course, Leo backtracked to his side. The scientist of the group caught the gleam in Shredder’s eyes a split second before the ceiling seemed to collapse on his brothers. Mikey’s cry of protest was drowned out by the sound of metal hitting the floor, the net crashing down onto their brothers and driving them to the ground. This whole situation had just gotten a hell of a lot worse, and Donnie was beginning to see more problems rising up.

“Something’s wrong with Raphael.” Donnie muttered, his keen eyes watching his brothers closely. Raph looked dizzy and distracted, and even from this distance, Donnie could see confusion going over his face. The already roughed up turtle gave a bit of a shudder, brow creasing before he went still as his eyes closed. Leo didn’t seem too happy about that, shoving at Raph to try and wake him up again. Rahzar and Shredder stalked closer now that the turtle was unconscious, the Footbots surrounding the net and holding it down to prevent the two turtles from escaping. A bit of overkill, considering it didn’t seem like the two were going anywhere anytime soon.

Teeth grit, Donnie suddenly pieced everything together as he watched the scene unfold, spying Raphael’s phone blinking from a table in the shadows. They’d been lured here. The Foot were picking off the turtles one by one, using each other as bait to draw the others in. With the bond between the four brothers being so strong, their responses to each other in danger would be terribly predictable. They would never leave one another behind, which made it impossibly easy to set traps.

It also made him feel incredibly foolish for not realizing it sooner.

“Mikey.” Donnie hissed softly, shooting a glance at his younger brother. “We’re gonna need help with this if we wanna get them out.” If they just rushed in now to free their brothers, Shredder would be prepared. They’d be captured and then they’d be done for, all four of them. Donnie frowned as he looked around, eyes finally coming to rest on the broken skylight. He gave Mikey a glance and nodded towards it before heading for their escape route.

Climbing to the top of the cord, Donatello grabbed onto the rafters, a flash of relief going through him. The sensation of a solid object beneath his hands made him feel much safer. Dangling from a thin cord twenty feet above a solid concrete floor wasn’t nearly the same as leaping over rooftops in the night. For some strange reason, he felt much better with the beam to hold onto. It just felt much more secure, and not like he was going to tumble to his death.

Mikey must’ve caught the relieved look on his face, because it only took a moment for a teasing grin to spread over his own.

“Aw, D’, what’s the matter? You scared of heights or something?” Mikey taunted, rocking on his chain like it was a rope swing, just enjoying himself. Donnie couldn’t help but feel as if his cheerful attitude was a bit forced at the moment.

“I am _not_ ‘scared of heights’.” Donnie retorted sharply, giving him an unamused look. “I’d just prefer not to fall onto a concrete floor and have my shell shatter to pieces. It’s a perfectly reasonable preference.” It took a moment to realize that Mikey wasn’t even listening to him anymore. The freckled turtle had his eyes locked on their brothers below, despair written over his face.

“It just feels… wrong. To leave them behind, I mean. Can’t we go down and get them out now?”

“Mikey, what do you think Rahzar and Shredder will do to us if we just jump down there?” Donnie asked, focusing on working his way along the beam towards the skylight. He could just barely hear Rahzar’s soft growls from below, and it didn’t make him feel very good about all of this. But he couldn’t focus on that right now.

“Whip our shells from here to New Jersey…”

“Yeah, basically. So we have to think this through, alright? We’re gonna go get April and Casey. Well… I am, anyway. You’re gonna follow Leo and Raph, see where the Foot take them. Then we’ll figure out what to do. But if we get caught, we’re no good to them.” A swift flick up to see his brother’s worried blue eyes had sympathy rushing through him. Mikey just wanted to get them back. He could understand that one hundred percent. It was just… not possible with the way their situation had played out. Giving his little brother a reassuring smile, Donnie nodded sharply, hoping that would help to set in that he was serious.

“We’ll get them back just fine. Don’t worry.”

Trusting that their brothers could keep themselves alive long enough for them to return with a rescue team, Donnie turned away, heaving himself up onto the beam. Climbing out of the window without getting sliced open by broken glass was a bit of a chore, but he managed. Pulling in a breath of ‘fresh’ air, Donnie was pleased to see that the night was still clear. That would make tracking the van much easier if they ended up losing it. Shifting his lanky form around, Donnie reached back in, helping Mikey climb out of the warehouse.

The movement must have caught Leonardo’s eye. The leader of the Hamato group looked up, and even from here, Donatello could see his shoulders sink with relief knowing that at least two of his brothers were safe and sound. Donnie gave him a silent thumbs up, which was returned with a barely visible nod. Good. Leo would be fine on his own long enough. It was Raph’s condition that was worrying him more.

No time to worry about that now.

“Alright. I’ll go get our two reinforcements. You stay here. If they take Leo and Raph anywhere, or if you see anything weird, text me. If they leave, follow them and text me where they go. You got that?” Donnie smiled at the determined expression that took over Mikey’s face as the youngest gave a firm nod. Mikey could handle this just fine. “Awesome. Don’t let anyone but Leo see you. The Foot are gonna set traps to lure us in, so whatever you do, do _not_ go rushing in without me.”

Another firm nod gave him the answer he needed. Lifting his fist in a silent offer, Donnie relaxed and gave Mikey a warm smile as his fist was met by his brother’s. Silent reassurance enough to give them both the confidence they needed, Donatello turned and leaped off of the rooftop, making a beeline straight for April’s apartment. They would need all of the help they could get, so bringing April and Casey into this was definitely a necessity at this point.

He just hoped it was enough.


	10. Chapter 10

Watching as Donnie spun around and leapt away, Mikey turned back to watch the Foot approaching his brothers. He couldn’t help but squirm a little, unable to keep still. It felt wrong to just sit here. But just as Donnie had pointed out, he wouldn’t be able to save them on his own. Although, that didn’t mean he couldn’t still help. Michelangelo frowned, taking a swift glance around before heading to the edge of the rooftop. There had to be _something_ he could do to help. Even if it was just… oh. That would work.

The solo turtle used notches in the side of the building to edge his way down in silence, the chips in the brickwork just enough to hold onto. Mikey did his best to go slowly so he didn’t draw attention to his movement. The last thing he needed was to get caught, and then Donnie would have to save all _three_ of them. Shaking off the thought, Mikey flicked his eyes back down to the street. The only vehicle close to the building was a big black van. It wasn’t the same one that had stolen Raphael in the first place, but either way, he wasn’t going to let it leave. Ducking to the far side, Mikey crouched beside it before peeking underneath. He couldn’t remember what the best tube to cut was, but if he cut _everything_ , then it was guaranteed that he’d get the right one.

It didn’t take a genius to realize that he wouldn’t be able to get underneath. His shell would get in the way far too easily… but his arm wouldn’t. Reaching under the van with the blade of his ‘chucks extended, Mikey struck out at all of the wires and tubes attached to the floor of the van in one quick sweep. A surprising amount of fluid began to rush out from the tubes, giving off a sort of sickly sweet scent. It took him a moment, but Mikey pulled his hand back once he recognized it as gasoline. The broken wires were dangling dangerously close to the liquid. Kind of hoping this didn’t turn into some explosions and fires, Mikey pulled away and got back onto his feet. That would keep the Foot from going anywhere with his brothers. Though if he stayed out here beside the van for much longer, he was going to end up joining them.

Climbing back up onto the warehouse was much easier than going down. Michelangelo had to resist the urge to hum as he scaled the wall, pleased with his work. Donnie would be proud of him when he came back. Well… on the inside, at least. Such a small thing would keep his brothers from getting carted off to some lab, so that was good.

A few more shards of glass had fallen from the side of the shattered skylight when Mikey scrambled back over to it. He peered into the building again, his eyes narrowed as he tried to pick his brothers’ forms out of the gloom. Rahzar was still standing beside them, but what really caught his eye was the movement on the edge of the shadows. Someone was against the wall.

As Michelangelo watched, it became obvious that this wasn’t just some Foot ninja standing guard on the side. Whoever this was, they were trying to stay out of sight. Purposely sticking to the shadows, not showing themselves. But they weren’t hugging the wall like they were scared of being caught… it was like they belonged there. Just staying out of the way. They weren’t sneaking around at all. Mikey frowned, tilting his head as he kept his eyes on the figure. Shredder must have someone trying to stay out of sight in case he or Donnie rushed back in to save their brothers. But… why only one person? It wasn’t Fishface or Tigerclaw, they wouldn’t hide like that.

Suddenly the figure shifted. A shudder went down his spine as he caught the glimpse of eyes shining from the shadows, and Mikey’s whole body froze up as he felt… _something_ rush through him. Like a heavy, choking wind that stole his breath from his chest, forcing him still. Terror rushed into his chest in its place, making his body quiver until the sensation vanished out of nowhere. The figure had turned away, the glint of eyes gone.

Mikey shoved himself away from the window, gasping to draw breath back into his lungs. Trembles were going through his body now, and the urge to run home and hide in his room was almost overwhelming. In fact, he would have loved to hide in _Splinter’s_ room instead. It sounded like a brilliant idea. His father could deal with whatever monster was down there with his brothers—

_Wait._

His brothers were down there with that thing! Scrambling back to the window, Mikey’s eyes were frantic as he tried to find the person again. Searching through the shadows gave him nothing to work with. Confusion distracted him from the actual task at hand for a moment, his brow creasing. Who just vanished like that?! He didn’t know of anyone that worked for Shredder that made him ever feel the way that guy did. Or someone who could just disappear on a whim. Except, well… Shredder.

So this must be someone new, because Shredder himself was standing over on the other side of the warehouse. That couldn’t be good news, but whoever it was couldn’t be any worse than Saki. So he couldn’t really worry yet. Shredder was still the worst thing down there. Mikey turned his eyes back to the net holding his brothers down, feeling whispers of unease going through him. Something was going to go very, very wrong. He could feel it in his gut. But he couldn’t see that guy anymore, so… at least his brothers weren’t gonna be the target of whoever it was.

He tensed as he kept his eyes on his brothers. Leo looked ready to murder someone, and he was trying his best to lash out as Rahzar gathered the edges of the net, basically scooping the two turtles up into the air. Raphael shifted at the sudden movement, seeming to wake up. That was confirmed once he gave a sharp yelp as Rahzar tossed him and his brother into a sturdy metal box. He landed on top of Leo, a snarl on his face as the lid slammed shut on them. Mikey flinched at the bang of the closure, biting his lip. That box looked heavy. He could see a few holes in the sides, probably to let them breathe, but they were too small to be of any use. Watching helplessly as the box was locked, Mikey sighed, shaking his head. He would have to figure something else out.

Turning his head to the side as movement caught his eye again, Mikey stiffened, almost eager to see if it was the creepy dude. Instead, he felt a flash of disappointment as one of the bots headed for the door.

At once, he remembered the van. The disappointment vanished in a rush. Eager to see what would happen and what the reaction would be, Mikey skittered over to the edge of the rooftop, leaning over just enough to see. The bot didn’t even notice him, just going to the van and pulling the door open. Mikey grinned as he climbed in and the door slammed shut. There was a moment of utter silence, before the lights of the van flickered.

_BOOM!_

Mikey yelled as he jerked back, covering his face to block the wave of heat that rose up from the chaos. As soon as the lights had flickered, the van erupted into flame, the gas tank promptly exploding from the pressure. It only took a moment for the whole thing to catch fire, flames quickly spreading over the fluid on the ground. Shaking his head to clear the daze and going back to the edge, Mikey’s blue eyes widened as he appreciated the scene.

_Huh. Maybe that wire wasn’t the best thing to leave hanging._

Oh well. It worked out great for him. So long as Donnie hurried up before they found another way to rush off. Mikey kept his eyes on the doorway, legs beginning to bounce as anxiety scratched at his core. They didn’t have to _go_ anywhere to do horrible things to his brothers.

Maybe… maybe they didn’t have _time_ to wait for Donnie. It might take too long for Donnie to return with April and Casey. Shredder didn’t need an hour to tear open his brothers from the inside out. That image made up his mind pretty quickly. Letting his nictitating membrane slide over his eyes, the young turtle darted back to his skylight, only pausing for a moment before leaping back down onto the rafters he’d escaped from only a little bit ago.

The metal box containing his brothers had been shoved into the corner, Rahzar looking increasingly frustrated as he stood guard over it. Shredder was nowhere to be seen. Michelangelo hesitated, flicking his eyes around as he tried to catch sight of the trained master. He didn’t know whether to feel reassured or terrified that he couldn’t see Shredder. Not knowing where his family’s greatest enemy was didn’t exactly comfort him, but he wasn’t getting the chill up his spine like he was being watched. Reassured that nobody was looking at him, Mikey stalked along the rafters. He took a deep breath as his eyes flicked around the room, letting the seconds pass as he formulated a quick plan.

In a split second, he leapt from the rafters, lunging for the thick cords that were stapled to the far wall. They led down to a breaker box, and chances were that if he could get to them, the lights would be out in a flash. Wouldn’t help much considering literally everyone in here was a ninja and Rahzar could see in the dark, but it was a bit comforting to know that it would be easier to sneak around and figure out how to get the box open.

_No way am I gonna be able to carry that thing out, especially with Raph in it. The guy weighs like 200 pounds! Not to mention what Leo weighs. Imagine carrying both of them at once… jeez. Maybe once Donnie gets here. For now… gotta work with what I have._

Ignoring Rahzar’s bellow of fury as he was spotted and responding with a battle cry of his own, Mikey whipped his kusarigama at the cords, taking one more blink of light before the room caved into darkness.


	11. Chapter 11

“Amazing rescue, Leo. Ten out of ten, definitely some of your best work.” Raph snapped, rubbing his head and shooting his older brother a glare in the dim light the holes offered. His eyes still stung from the powder, along with the rest of his body. So he was grumpy and not nearly in any mood to tolerate much more of this. “Oh yeah, let’s blind me before getting shoved into a freaking box! That’ll make me feel _so much better_.” The headache from hitting his head earlier wasn’t calming down, much like his temper. Putting his hands over his eyes and taking a deep breath, Raph let out a furious sigh, his grip tightening over his face.

_Alright. Calm down._ Raph grit his teeth and let his hands fall from his head. _Quit pouting and find a way out of here. You can beat the green off of Leo’s face later._ Speaking of… why hadn’t Leo said anything? Usually his outbursts sparked at least _some_ sort of reply.

Lifting his eyes, Raph frowned as he turned his attention to his brother. Leo’s face was plastered with a focused expression, his hands searching through his belt and wrists. The eldest didn’t even seem to be paying attention to Raph’s complaints. Not that Raph could blame him for that, but he really wanted to. Leonardo’s face contorted into frustration. Drawing his hands away from his waist, he shook his head, glancing up to Raph.

“I don’t have anything on me. I must have used it all in the fight or dropped them.” he grumbled, shaking his head. Raph just stared. Mouth open as he gawked at his brother, he didn’t say a word, not taking his eyes off of him for a moment. Leo wasn’t prepared for something? Especially a situation where they got caught? It was almost unheard of. Of course, Rahzar had stolen what weapons he could find, but for Leo to have nothing was a bit unnerving. Shaking his head quickly, Raph shifted his surprise into a glare, eyes narrowing.

“What do you mean you don’t have anything?! You don’t have a kunai or a lock pick or _something?_ ”

“We just had a long fight, Raphael!” Leo’s snap came as a surprise. “Just because I’m the leader and I’m the oldest doesn’t mean I have to be the only one that’s prepared! I make mistakes too. I’m only me, Raph.” Leonardo glowered back at him for a moment before pulling his eyes away. Raph didn’t bother with a reply, honestly too surprised to form one. It wasn’t like he had anything on him either. He’d spent half the night in the clutches of the Foot. There was no way they hadn’t taken everything while he was out cold. Sighing, Raph glanced around the box, his shoulders sinking.

Even if Leo _did_ have something, there wasn’t much they could do from inside here. No access to the hinges or the lock gave them basically nothing to work with. The box was almost entirely smooth and sealed on the inside. Unless Leo had his katanas hidden away somewhere, they were hooped. Only thing they could do was sit and wait. Raph tried to ignore Leo’s gaze as he tugged at the wrap on his wrists. He was exhausted, and sitting here like fish in a barrel wasn’t making him feel any better. Neither was the hand coming for his face.

Raphael flinched back and almost lashed out, every nerve on edge and his whole body tensed as he prepared to defend himself… from Leo. There was no need for it all. Heat rushed to his face as he locked eyes with his concerned brother. Neither of them moved nor spoke for a few tense seconds. Leo had taken off his own wrist wrap, his hand extended towards Raph’s shoulder, where the bite was still bleeding. Blue eyes flicked over his face before Leo drew back a few inches, showing the cloth in his grip to try and calm his brother’s nerves.

“Easy, Raph. I’m just trying to help.”

Raph glanced away, his hand clenching around his wrist. Leo wouldn’t continue to try and help unless he was given permission to. Or unless Raph passed out, which at this rate, wouldn’t be much of a surprise to anyone. Though Raphael’s first instinct was to refuse and claim he could take care of himself, he hesitated. Accepting help meant he _needed_ help, which meant he wasn’t strong enough to handle his own problems. It made him feel weak. But before he could open his mouth, an old talk with Splinter came to mind, making him pause.

_“I didn’t need Donnie’s help! I could’ve done it on my own, I’m not weak and wimpy!”_

_“Accepting help from others does **not** mean you are weak, Raphael. It does not mean you have failed yourself or anyone else. Taking help shows strength in yourself; it shows that you trust others enough to allow them to help you when you need it, and that one day, you will return the favor.”_

_Tch. Trust one of Splinter’s lessons to come to mind while I’m stuck in a box._ Shoving away the snappy outburst he wanted to lash out with, Raph let go of a sigh, lowering his hands and looking away.

“…Sorry. Guess I’m a bit jumpy tonight.”

Leo didn’t seem bothered in the least. He seemed glad as he took the hint, offering Raph a warm smile in response and shifting close enough to start his work on patching his brother up. Raph held back a wince as Leo began to wrap up his shoulder. Hopefully that would control the bleeding enough to keep him awake while they waited for a rescue. Raph restrained himself from making a sound while Leo worked, glancing up only when Leo spoke.

“I don’t blame you. I’d probably be the same way, we all would. You’ve had a pretty rough night.”

_Damn right, I’ve had a rough night. But now you’re stuck in it with me, so I guess I can’t really complain **too** much… maybe. _ Raph didn’t bother saying that, just closing his eyes and letting Leo do his work. They were gonna have to sit and wait for help, even though he really didn’t want to. While the leader patched up his arm, Raph took a glance out of one of the holes in the side of the box. He couldn’t see much, besides a few Foot standing guard and Rahzar’s ugly feet.

At the same time, there was a certain amount of rising tension in the room. Rahzar was stiff, his legs shifting uneasily as he guarded their trap. Raph narrowed his eyes and glanced to the side, feeling a shiver run down his spine. Something was definitely off. He couldn’t see Shredder anywhere, which made him feel at least a little better. They wouldn’t die right this second, which was nice. But he wouldn’t put it past the master to pop out of nowhere and start stabbing the box.

**_Turtles in a box, fish in a barrel… huh. Not so different_ ** _. Not something I really **like** the image of, but whatever._

As he watched, however, Rahzar’s whole body stiffened up. The mutant dog suddenly burst out with a roar and lunged forward, just as the green and orange blur that was oddly familiar sped past. Raph heard Leo sigh softly as the turtle outside let go of a ‘ _BOOYAKASHA!’_ that outdid Rahzar’s growl in volume. Raphael turned and looked back to Leo just as the lights went out, and something sounded like it was sparking.

“So about that rescue?”

“I didn’t exactly expect Mikey to try one on his own. And since I can’t hear Donnie, I’m guessing he did exactly that.” Leo muttered, tilting his head as he tried to listen to the commotion. Rahzar was sounding more and more frustrated, and by the sound of Mikey’s little giggles and taunts, he was having the time of his life. Raph couldn’t help but grin. As excitable as their baby brother could be, there was no doubt that he would always be counted on to save their butts when they needed it.

Rahzar’s yelp was like music to his ears. Raph leaned close to the side of the box as the fight went on, trying to see something, but everything was black. There was nothing to see with the low moonlight. He winced as Leo finally tightened the bandage and tied it off, his brother pulling away just as the box shook with the impact of Rahzar and Mikey battling it out. Michelangelo’s taunts had gone quiet, but Rahzar’s growls hadn’t.

“Get him, Mikey!” Raph yelled encouragement, letting his shoulders relax as he heard Mikey’s happy reply. A quiet Mikey meant either he was asleep (even then, it was rarely silent), or something was wrong. So long as Michelangelo kept making noise, whether it was chuckles, taunts or yells, he was okay.

_“Hnn-agh!”_

Unless it was _that_ noise.

Raph felt Leo go tense beside him as Mikey cried out. He could feel his own muscles clenching as he listened, and his eyes narrowed in anger. How _dare_ Rahzar hurt his little brother? There was thumping on the lid of the box, as if Mikey was kicking at it in an attempt to get away. He obviously couldn’t though. Raph listened as Rahzar stepped back, his claws clicking on the floor as he moved away from the box, the sound of Mikey’s grunts and struggles just beside him.

“Stupid runt…”

Out of nowhere, there was the sound of something slamming into the opposite wall of the box. Raph jerked back with a shocked yelp, his eyes wide before he basically shoved Leo out of the way, reaching out to it. It felt like a pencil, just made out of metal.

_Bo shuriken. Thank you, Mikey!_

Obviously, this wasn’t just for their use. Raph frowned, glancing back towards where he could hear Rahzar. Feeling the wall of the box, Raph located one of the holes and peered through it, his eyes narrowed. He could just barely make out Rahzar’s form beside the box, Mikey’s dangling from his claws just beside him. Suddenly realizing what the bo shuriken was for, Raph brought it into his teeth, cupping his hands around his mouth and lining up with the small hole.

“Raph...”

Raph growled softly to warn Leo off, listening to Rahzar’s movements. Finally, he sucked in a sharp breath and blew the sharpened metal rod out of his mouth. The sound of Rahzar’s cry of pain was music to his ears. Mikey dropped to the ground as he was released, ducking away and lunging for the box. Before Rahzar could recover, the youngest had sliced at the box, the lock clinging to the floor, and Raph watched as his baby brother vanished into the darkness of the rafters.


	12. Chapter 12

Silence was all that greeted his knock at first. Donnie shifted nervously on his feet, glancing back in the direction of the warehouse he had just left. He trusted Mikey’s ability, but that didn’t stop him from worrying. The Foot could be unpredictable. They could be waiting for a rescue to get the other two in their grasp – Actually, that was the most likely reason that they were just sitting there with their brothers held in a metal box. They were waiting for him and Mikey to return and try to bust them out, so they could jump in and finally have all four turtles in Shredder’s grasp.

And of course, they were playing right into Saki’s hands. But what other choice did they have? They couldn’t just leave Leo and Raph in there to be tortured or killed. There was no way they would just stand by and let that happen. So for now, he was going to have to improvise as they went to, hopefully, keep him and Mikey from getting captured alongside their brothers.

“Donnie!”

Jerking out of his thoughts, Donatello looked over the balcony’s edge. April was in the street below, a concerned look plastered over her face. Of course she knew something was wrong. He hadn’t exactly called to reassure her that they’d taken care of everything, and the others weren’t there with him. It wouldn’t be hard for April to figure out that something had gone seriously wrong. Leaping over the railing, Donnie landed easily on the asphalt beside her, straightening up and finding himself the target of her searching gaze. Her eyes flicked over his face, seeking out a sign either of what had happened, or what to say to reassure him.

Deciding it was best to skip that part, Donnie quickly spoke first, glancing down the street again.

“Is Casey at home?”

“I think so. He should be, at least. Why? Donnie, what happened?”

“Leo and Raph got caught.” Donnie began, turning and leading the way to Casey’s apartment. He didn’t need to tell April to follow. She matched his pace as they ran and he continued his explanation. “The fight got bad faster than we expected. Raph was pretty beat up, and they snagged him first. Our rescue attempt ended with us basically handing Leo over to them. I left Mikey to watch and make sure that Shredder doesn’t run off with them and do who knows what.”

“And you need help getting them out. Why didn’t you just say so?” April nodded as if she wasn’t all that surprised about the situation. To be fair, most of the bad stuff seemed to practically follow the turtles around, so bad news just wasn’t much of a surprise anymore. All Donnie did was nod, too focused on the other seven tracks his mind was wandering to bother holding the conversation. April seemed to catch on pretty easily, letting them run in silence until they reached Casey’s door. That’s then she paused, nudging Donnie’s shoulder.

“I’ll go in and get him. You stay here.”

Another small nod and Donnie slipped back into the shadows of the alley beside the complex. Keeping low to stay out of sight of any curious eyes, he kept a careful watch of the street. It was much, much easier for April to go get Casey, given that she was (mostly) human. Though the fact that it was almost two a.m. would be difficult to explain away to parents.

These were the only times that Donatello was ever glad that Casey’s father didn’t care.

April’s voice returned outside, accompanied now by the overzealous hockey jock of the group. Donnie perked up as he heard them, the sounds bringing him back to the situation at hand and he stayed in place until April brought Casey to where he was hidden. Casey sounded tired as he complained to April, but he grinned once he lay eyes on Donnie.

“I was hoping for some awesome-kick-butt-action tonight.”

“If you consider the so-called A-Team being kidnapped by Shredder ‘awesome-kick-butt-action’, then you’re in luck.” Donnie retorted wryly, in no mood for joking around. Normally he would, but he was far too frustrated with the situation tonight to bother. Though he gained a fair amount of satisfaction from watching Casey’s shit-eating grin fall into a scowl. The boy cracked his knuckles as Donnie got back onto his feet and turned towards the path back to the warehouse. Casey would make this all go much smoother, in his own reckless way, and Donnie was glad to take him along. It was already chaos, so what would a little more trouble do?

“Come on. The longer we wait, the more chance there is of Shredder rushing away with them or Mikey getting himself into trouble.”

They didn’t make it very far before a heavy blast sounded in the distance. Donnie froze in his tracks as his eyes tracked the rising smoke cloud a few blocks down. He didn’t even need to speak. April and Casey were hard on his heels as he shot off, all thoughts jerking back to worrying for his brothers.

_Damn it, Mikey… I told you to stay put!_

Donnie dug his toes in, pressing on with a new burst of speed and pulling ahead of his human companions. It was all he could do to hold down his rising panic. If Mikey got hurt, nothing was going to end well. He was already sure Raphael had a concussion. There were gashes and other wounds to deal with, not to mention the wounds he hadn’t even seen yet. It was quickly becoming apparent that there would be more injuries before the night was over. It wasn’t like he could trust his brothers to take care of themselves.

Raph would ignore his wounds until Donnie got tired of it and basically forced him to take care of them. Leo would refuse to be treated until everyone else was (and then hide his wounds afterwards). Mikey was probably the easiest to deal with. Though he didn’t tend to cooperate when there was added pain needed to make the healing process begin, he never protested to being fussed over. Of course, they all had basic first aid training, but Donatello was the only one with the patience and the capacity to mull over textbooks and reports and online courses to gain a proper understanding of the medical treatments he might ever have to perform. He never enjoyed having to treat wounds, but it was a given in their line of duty.

So instead of worrying, he might as well just get there and deal with it.

With the added burst of panic to fuel his steps, it took no more than a few minutes to make it back to the warehouse. Donnie skidded in his tracks, his eyes widening at the sight of the charred van. Flames still licked the air from the inside, eagerly looking for more places to spread. The Foot had obviously meant to take his brothers somewhere, but by the looks of their vehicle, a certain turtle had made sure that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.

_Are they in there?!_

Fearing for his brothers’ lives, Donatello raced over to the van, using his bō to tug the doors open. Flames spilled out of the new opening, flaring up towards the sky and emitting a wave of heat that drove him back. But as he watched them part and sway in their own deadly sort of dance, Donnie felt his shoulders sag in relief as he caught sight of the empty van. There was no sign of his brothers here. Stepping back and fighting the urge to just sit down, he turned his gaze to his human friends. Casey’s shoulders slumped and he ran a hand over his face, but April had her face turned away, already looking back towards the warehouse doors.

“Donnie, I think something going on in there. I can feel it… something’s wrong.”

Donnie stepped towards the front doors of the building, before turning his eyes skyward. Rushing straight in would be a death wish. They’d have to take the skylight he and Mikey had smashed through earlier. Nodding for them to follow, he took the lead once more, scaling the side of the warehouse in seconds. As soon as he reached the top, however, Donnie nearly tripped over himself in a rush to stop, letting go of a gasp.

“Mikey!”

His little brother looked horribly battered; bruises were popping up over his arms and there was a nasty one beginning to form around his neck. Michelangelo glanced up and just gave him a weak grin, coughing lightly as he pushed himself to sit up from where he had been laying on his shell.

“S-Sup, D’?”

“I told you specifically to _not go rushing in without me!_ ” Donnie snapped. He was at his brother’s side in an instant, tilting Mikey’s chin back to examine his neck, despite the younger turtle’s protests. Luckily there was no bleeding, but by the sound of Mikey’s voice, there was at least some damage. The normally cheery voice was now raspy, almost like he was recovering from a bad cold and had spent most of the week coughing. Sighing, Donnie released his brother’s head, setting his glare on him as he drew his hand back. “What the _hell_ were you thinking? We can barely take Rahzar together! You could’ve b--!”

Jerking in surprise, Donnie looked down at Mikey, trying to register what he had said. Shaking his head, he looked over to the skylight and the darkness below, finally processing the words.

“ _I cut the lock.”_

_Oh, Mikey, you genius._

Getting to his feet, Donatello reached down and helped Mikey to his. After he’d taken the moment to rest, Michelangelo seemed to recover some energy to move. Stretching his neck and giving Donnie a grin, Mikey saved the others closer and peered into the warehouse below them. Donnie blinked, not really focusing on the others enough to realize that they had followed him up. As Casey and April came close and peered in with him, Mikey took a deep breath, cupping his hands over his mouth and calling out a single word.

_“Ichi!”_


	13. Chapter 13

_"One.”_

Both of them tensed. Raph had been ready to burst out of the box until they heard Mikey’s sharp call and Leo placed his hand on his brother’s shoulder. A silent order to wait. With the state Raphael was in, Leonardo wanted to be sure there was no further risk to him before they went charging out into chaos. Luckily for them, Mikey seemed to have a plan.

Something Leo was incredibly grateful for, because he sure as hell didn’t have one. Not that he was going to admit that to anyone… he’d never hear the end of it if he did.

The sound of glass clinking against the concrete was impossibly loud in the silence. Rahzar began to growl in confusion as he paced around the box. He seemed… Uncomfortable. Worried, almost. Probably not about the oncoming attack but what would happen when he lost his prey... Shredder couldn’t be very forgiving to failure. Leo could feel the tension in the air, crackling like a thunderstorm on its way. Obviously Rahzar wasn’t as confident as he made it seem to be. Raph was squirming under his palm, but Leo kept his focus on Rahzar, waiting, listening for the moment to leap out.

_“Ni!”_

_Two_.

Mikey’s second call was closer. Leo tried to peek out of the holes in the box and see what was going on, but there wasn’t much he could make out in this darkness. There were the small glints of the glass shards littering the floor beneath the skylight, but there wasn’t a sign of his little brother. He had to give his brother some props for sticking to the shadows. Not even the glint of a weapon was giving him away. Even so, his trained ear was picking up on the soft rustling of leather. Something only a ninja would be able to hear.

Unfortunately for them, Rahzar was just as well trained.

At first, Leo was sure that Rahzar hadn’t heard. The dog didn’t move besides his hands twitching lightly, and he couldn’t see his eyes. He stayed in place, until a shift to the side caused his reaction. Rahzar whipped around, claws striking out towards the shadows at the wall—

And scraped over stone.

Once again, Leo had to be amazed with his brother’s agility. Splinter hadn’t been kidding when he had said Mikey was the most natural at absorbing the art of ninjutsu. As obnoxious and high-strung as his little brother was, he found it much easier than all of the others when it came to blending in and utilizing his surroundings. It was a part of him that Leo marveled at – and wished he could replicate in himself.

_“San!”_

_Three._

Rahzar was turning again, his ears flicking as he tried his best to pinpoint where Mikey’s voice was coming from. It echoed off of the walls of the warehouse and now there was more rustling of gear in the shadows, and it was impossible to tell if it was just Mikey, or if they had ten other creatures with them. At the third call, Rahzar went stiff, obviously expecting an attack. None came. Glancing over to Raphael sitting beside him, Leo felt his heart lift as he saw the knowing grin on his brother’s face. Deception was a ninja’s greatest weapon. Why go off on the count of three when you could instead, go off on—

_“Shi!”_

_Four_!

The roar that the werewolf let go was nothing compared to the combined battle cries that came from every corner. Leonardo let his legs bunch underneath him and he pushed up with every ounce of strength he had, Raphael doing the same beside him. Their shells met the metal lid and they exploded out of the box with a bang, just as Mikey came leaping down from the rafters and slamming his nunchucks down on top of Rahzar’s head. In only a few seconds, the room was turned to total chaos. Before Raph could join in the attack, Leo shoved him aside with his shoulder, pointing to Donnie and then to the skylight.

“Get him out of here! We’ll be right behind you!”

One sharp nod and Donnie grabbed onto Raph’s arm, dragging the wounded turtle along with him as he lunged for the exit. Rahzar tried to follow, and now he was fighting back with everything he had. The Foot bots had joined the fray. Shredder was still nowhere to be seen, but Leonardo knew in his stomach that it didn’t mean he wasn’t here. He had to be careful if they were all going to make it out of here. He’d already started to suspect that this was going to turn into a trap at some point. They’d kept them here to lure his brothers in, and now everyone was here.

A harsh yell of his name from the side made Leo look up from the fight, his eyes falling on Casey. The boy was holding his katanas and before Leo could protest, he flung them through the air at him. Thanking Splinter for his years of training, Leo managed to catch them by the handles instead of the blades. Glancing down at his precious swords and feeling like a piece of him had been put back, Leo grinned, rushing in and leaping over Rahzar’s head, blades singing through the air as they sliced at his arm. The mutant jerked his hand back from where he was trying to attack Mikey, a snarl on his breath as he turned his attention to his new enemy.

Leonardo had already danced back out of range, slicing through the bots surrounding him with deadly precision. He barely shifted his eyes from Rahzar, keeping note of where the bots were with every other sense. He could see Mikey watching him; waiting for that signal, the motion to go. Waiting for the moment to fall back. Instead, Leo turned, shooting April a glance. They had to get out first; he and Mikey could follow along afterwards.

So long as they made it out in one piece.

Rahzar kept his advances on Leo, claws slashing out at the turtle’s head. Leo kept stepping away, blocking each blow with his katana, careful not to stumble over robot parts strewn over the floor. Swipe, slice. Swipe, block and stab back. Suddenly Rahzar lunged forward with his jaws, spittle flying as he snapped towards Leo’s head. Jerking, Leo almost didn’t move in time, but he needn’t worry. Out of nowhere, Mikey flipped over Rahzar’s head, spinning in the air and whipping his nunchuck across Rahzar’s nose with a _crack!_

“Bad dog!”

Giving his little brother a bright grin as Mikey turned to him, Leo stayed by his side, helping him ward off Rahzar and keeping an eye on Mikey’s shell for the braver Footbots. Rahzar was losing his patience. His strikes were getting fiercer, harder, more desperate. He was frustrated and furious, growing even more so when he couldn’t land a hit on the turtles in front of him. Finally, Leo heard the sharp whistle come from above, and he gave the flick of his hand Mikey had been waiting for.

Just as Shredder’s blades came striking out of the shadows at his baby brother’s head.

Thanking the gods yet again for his brother’s abilities, Leo lashed his swords out, catching the blades as Mikey rolled out of the way. Suddenly, the situation was much worse. Two brothers stuck down here, while their four comrades waited on the rooftop, one of which badly injured. Leonardo took a step back, watching Shredder step forward beside Rahzar, and made his decision.

“Not today, Oroku Saki.”

As if on cue, Mikey slammed two smoke bombs onto the floor, and they were off. Leo kept a hold of Michelangelo’s arm as they leaped over the bots, using a few as propulsion and finally grabbed onto the rafters. Panting as he listened for Shredder’s bellow of rage, Leo paused, frowning when it didn’t come. He glanced over to Mikey, wondering if his little brother shared his confusion as the smoke began to clear, but Mikey’s eyes were trained on something else.

The freckled turtle had his eyes locked on the shadows in the far corner, his whole body gone rigid. It wasn’t like him to just freeze up like that, and for a moment, Leo was scared he was having some sort of fit. But he didn’t have time to ask. The Foot were quickly following their trail, and Leo tugged on his brother’s arm, gritting his teeth.

“Come on, Mikey, we have to go!” The words seemed to jar Mikey out of his trance and he nodded silently, following after Leo with a slightly panicked air until they climbed out onto the rooftop. Donnie was there to meet them, April and Casey sitting and catching their breath beside Raphael. Leo helped Mikey out into the night and glanced down at the Foot below, his eyes meeting the Shredder’s. He narrowed his own, hoping that Shredder could feel every ounce of hate he was trying to project onto him, before he heard everyone moving off. Rushing over to Raph’s side, Leo helped him to his feet, following after the others as they escaped into the night.

Below, Shredder stayed where he was, watching the skylight even as the turtles vanished. Rahzar had moved off to nurse his wounds. He flinched as Shredder lowered his gaze, looking around at the carnage around him. The turtles were growing stronger, and their skills were certainly accelerating. Hiding a growl in the back of his throat, Shredder clenched his fists, letting the blades of his gauntlets retract into them once more. So much loss for one plan… and it might not even come to light. Shaking his head, he turned to the corner that a frozen Michelangelo had been watching before, his good eye narrowing with contempt and a wariness that was unlike him.

“Your plan had better not fail us, _tesso_. Or it will be on your head.”

From the shadows, there was a glint of teeth as the demon grinned back at him, a soft laugh growing into a rather amused chuckle. When it spoke, it didn’t possess the same harsh accent Oroku Saki did. Instead, it was raspy, and seemed to echo from everywhere; even in Saki’s own skull. A pair of beady red eyes opened from just to the left of the grin from the shadows, giving an eerie lopsided aspect to the creature. Even so, Shredder didn’t move, waiting for the reply as he tensed, the figure backing off and vanishing into the depths of the shadows.

**_Do not worry… it won’t._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tesso - rat yokai that summons an army of rats


	14. Chapter 14

The sense of victory didn’t last long.

Despite the success of getting everybody out and the fact that nobody was too horribly hurt, it had been a painfully long night. Everybody was exhausted; Michelangelo could easily see that in the way Leo’s shoulders were slumped lower than usual, and how Donnie kept rubbing his eyes. Poor guy. He probably hadn’t slept in the last few nights with the projects he had been obsessing over lately… maybe tonight he’d get some sleep. And if not, Mikey could always make sure he did. Even with everything that had gone on throughout the night, Casey was still as excited as if the fight had just started, rambling to April about all of the cool moves he’d done.

“—and did you see the way I smashed that bot’s face in? It was _awesome!_ ”

“We get it, Jones.” Mikey flicked his eyes over to Raph as his injured brother spoke, surprised by the snarl in his voice. “You fought the robots. We get it. Now shut up and walk so we can go home.”

So Raph was still hurting. He wasn’t usually that angry after a fight, instead he’d be joking around with Casey and making jabs back at him. The fact that he wasn’t doing any of that was more worrying than the snap. Mikey watched Raph as he walked, brow creased as his eyes flicked over his brother. Now that the fight was over and he could get a proper look at him… Raph looked like a mess. Besides all of his wounds and then burn mark on his side, he just looked tired and in pain, and there was something in his eyes that Mikey couldn’t quite pinpoint.

A little rest would do them all some good. Then everybody would be back to normal and feeling better and it would all be fine, right? It had to be. They couldn’t go on forever with grumpy Raph and tired Donnie (though Donnie was exhausted like. 99% of the time.) so it had to even out somehow.

Though… one thing still bugged him.

Sidling up to Leo, Mikey nudged his arm to gain his attention, slowing his pace to let the others draw ahead. Leo gave him a curious look but did the same, following his brother’s cue. If anybody needed to know what he saw, it was Leo, cause the guy could plan anything out for them. And he liked knowing everything about whoever they were fighting. Mikey rubbed his arm, waiting until the others were out of earshot before he spoke.

“Leo, did you see anything… _weird_ when we were in there?”

Leo didn’t reply for a moment, frowning as he thought it over. Mikey could practically see the gears turning in his head as he searched back, but his shoulders sank as Leo shook his head. He prepared to be blown off and left to his own devices, choosing to pull ahead to avoid it. But before he could take a step away, Leo’s hand met his shoulder, and he found himself looking at concerned blue eyes darker than his own.

“You did, didn’t you? That’s why you froze up?”

Mikey nodded silently, turning his eyes back to the direction they had come from. He wasn’t sure _what_ he had seen, but he knew in his gut that it was bad. Even now, he could feel the chill of warning running down his spine. That familiar ninja sense that told him something was coming. Something bad.

“What did you see?” Leo pressed, holding Mikey’s shoulder to keep him back so the others could draw ahead out of earshot. For a moment, Mikey considered playing it off and shying away. He didn’t even know what he had seen, and Raph would tease him for overreacting if he spoke of it without any proof. Squirming under Leo’s gaze, Mikey shrugged, scuffing his toe against the concrete as he bit his cheek.

“I… I don’t know.”

To his surprise, Leonardo just nodded. His expression turned to one of frustration, but it only lasted a moment, fading just as quickly as it had appeared. Mikey paused, his eyes flicking over Leo’s face, trying to read his expression. The leader hated not knowing something, especially if it was about their enemies or involved their brothers. If Shredder had a new pawn, Leo wanted to know, and he would want to figure out everything about it before they ended up fighting it. Cause… it was kind of guaranteed they’d end up fighting it. Be real.

“Can you remember anything about it?”

“It was… creepy.” Well that much was kind of a given. “I never really saw it at all. Just these eyes and I got all cold and panicky. Like one of those Dementors from Azkaban or something, except I didn’t get my soul sucked out through my mouth.” A shudder went through his body at that thought. He didn’t really want to get his soul sucked out at all, if he could avoid it.

His big brother gave him a look, almost like he didn’t believe him, but it vanished again and his expression went back to one Mikey couldn’t make out. Why did Leo always have to hide his emotions? Couldn’t he just let them see what he was thinking for once? Mikey scowled as he felt a flash of resentment shoot through his chest, giving a huff. The only reason he used monsters to relate it to was cause it was easier to explain it that way. There was already an example ready to use, so he might as well just use it. It was easier to get the point across that way.

Leo didn’t speak as they began to move after the others again, crossing over a rooftop or two in silence, before he finally turned his eyes back to Mikey with a frown.

“We’ll figure it out. Next time you notice it, tell me immediately. If Shredder’s got a new friend, it probably won’t mean anything good for us. But Mikey, promise me you _won’t_ try and go after this thing until we know what it is and we have a good plan, okay? I’ll let the others know tomorrow--”

“Why not tonight?” Mikey blurted, his eyes widening as he leaped over the next rooftop. Didn’t they need to know now in case something happened? They could plan stuff out tonight and then they could figure it out, instead of waiting for tomorrow.

“Mikey… I think everybody needs a good rest before they get our next big crisis sprung on them.”

Following his eldest brother’s gaze towards the others ahead of them, Michelangelo realized that Leo spoke the truth. Raphael had started to lean into Donatello’s help, his shoulders slumping, while Donnie himself was slowing to accommodate him. April and Casey seemed to be doing alright, though.

_Oh, wait… maybe not._

Looking closer, it was easy to see that exhaustion plagued them as well. April’s feet were beginning to drag, and Casey was yawning as he rubbed a fresh black eye. It had been a long and stressful night for all of them, and that wasn’t the only problem. Mikey was pretty sure nobody was walking home without wounds of their own.

Leo was right… everybody needed a good rest.

_We can worry about finding this thing after we can stand up without falling on each other._ At least it wasn’t just going to be tossed to the side like most of his theories. Mikey sped up his pace as Leo did, catching up to the others within a few strides. They’d make it home before dawn, and then they could sleep, and everything would be okay.

Everything would turn out okay.


	15. Chapter 15

“…let him sleep. He can eat when he wakes up. Right now, just let him get some rest so that he can heal.”

_I would if you’d shut up._

His side was stinging badly as Donatello’s screechy voice woke him, but that pain was quickly drowned out by the throbbing in his skull. Raph groaned and pressed his face into his pillow, pulling the blankets up over his head. Maybe the headache would go away if he managed to get back to sleep. Obviously the hits he’d taken to his head yesterday weren’t agreeing with him. A check up by his brothers later on would tell him if he had a concussion, but for now, all he wanted to do was lay on his bed and hope it faded.

The sheets by his head sunk in as a delighted trill met his ear. Raph shifted, turning his head and opening one eye, finding a greeting from a very happy Chompy waiting for him once he pulled the blanket down. As much as his head hurt, he couldn’t bring himself to deny his tiny pet the cuddles he demanded. Raph sighed before he pulled Chompy close, bursting into a grin as Chompy basically nuzzled his whole body against Raph’s face. He must’ve been waiting all night for his friend to get back home, only for Raph to climb into bed and pass out.

“Hey, lil’ guy.” Raph purred, nuzzling his face back against Chompy. Once again, he felt that familiar rush of warmth to his chest, as if his lungs were trying to expand more than they could. Sometimes it surprised him, other times he welcomed it. It was a good feeling, and he was glad that Chompy brought it to him. This was his best friend. The only one who never judged him, who would never betray him.

_Like **Slash**?_

Raph paused as his thoughts turned sour, the feeling fading into a sour taste. He found himself looking into Chompy’s delighted little face and searching for… what? A flicker of disdain? Hatred maybe? A flash of evil? If Chompy got mutated too, would he turn on his family? _Will he go on a rampage and try to **kill them all** \--?_

_No._

He’d been careful. He’d been making sure to let Chompy play with Mikey and Ice Cream Kitty, he’d let Donnie borrow him to melt things down when a blowtorch wasn’t enough. He refrained from venting about his family to his precious alien child… and he was trying to make sure that the same thing didn’t happen again. If Chompy mutated… he wouldn’t turn on them.

_I shouldn’t be thinking like this… Chompy would never do that. We saved his life, he chose to stay. I take care of him. He wouldn’t ever do that._

**_I said that about Spike once, too…_ **

Sighing, Raph pressed his forehead against Chompy’s face. Arguing with himself on whether he could trust his pet wasn’t going to help anything. Especially this damned headache. He _could_ get out of bed and go get something for it, but that meant confronting his family. He’d have to deal with stupid concerns and questions and fussing. He didn’t want to be fussed over or interrogated, so maybe it would be better to suffer it out in here.

But as Chompy began to squeak and nudge his face, Raph realized that wasn’t going to be an option. Chompy was hungry and whining, and he’d spent all of the night before sitting alone and waiting for them all to return home with no food and no company. Raph couldn’t just sit here and sulk while his pet was depending on him. After all, he’d kind of just ignored everything when he’d trudged in here last night. So it was the least he could do for him. Pushing Chompy back so he could sit up, Raphael was quickly reminded of his wounds. His side burned, and all of his aches and bruises flared up to let him know that they were still there and they did _not_ approve of movement.

_I’m totally going back to bed once I get food… and pain meds. Meds would be good._

“…No way. Did you see him? There’s no way he’d ever be on my level. He got tossed around like a doll and then _BOOM_ he’s out!”

Raph stopped dead in the hall once he opened his door, Chompy held close to his chest. Mikey was in the livingroom, talking to… someone. He sounded alright, not whining or moaning in pain. Which was good. Raph held Chompy a bit tighter to his chest, ignoring the alien’s little chirp as he frowned, eyes flicking over the floor. Mikey and whoever… they were talking about him. About how he got messed up the night before.

_It wasn’t my fault. I’m way better than Mikey, I just… got caught off guard. **He** **got sent off out of the fight to guard some damn mutagen! He shouldn’t even be talking!**_

Scowling, Raph stepped out of the hall, fully prepared to give his brother a heated talking to for the state of his pride. Instead, he was met with a character selection screen and Mikey sitting with Ice Crean Kitty on his lap. By the looks of things, Mikey was playing an online session. The usernames were ones he didn’t recognize. Raph paused as he took in the situation, frowning as he glanced towards the kitchen, immediately feeling guilty. Of course Mikey wasn’t talking about him. He wasn’t that much of a jerk.

_Stupid… don’t be paranoid._

Shaking his head, Raph avoided the livingroom completely. He didn’t feel like explaining himself. But as he entered the kitchen, Raph felt his hope of avoiding everyone plummet. True to turtle luck, everyone else that had to be in the lair was in the kitchen. Raph sighed to himself but resisted the urge to retreat to his room, instead heading for the fridge.

“Raph! You’re awake.”

_No shit, Sherlock._

Raphael ignored Donnie’s remark for a few seconds while he grabbed a banana and a bottle of water, only then closing the fridge and turning to face his family. Leo was sitting at the head of the table, an array of scattered paper before him. Donnie was watching him from where he stood beside Leo, his eyes round with concern. Why was he so worried? He was fine. Splinter’s ear flicked as he turned to look at him, tea in hand.

All eyes on him, and that’s when the annoyance started to rise.

“What?” Raph grumbled, his eyes narrowing as Donnie exchanged a glance with Leo. Why were they looking like that? Had they been talking about him too?

_Mikey wasn’t even talking about you. Relax._

“How are you feeling?” Leo’s voice was louder than usual. It hurt to listen, but Raph shrugged, trying not to show it.

“Fine. Just have a headache.”

“Well you do have a concussion. Or you did, anyway.” Donnie replied, the worry fading from his face as he reached back to the counter behind him. Raph blinked in surprise as he was tossed a small bottle of pills. Apparently Donnie had come prepared; something Raphael was grateful for. Donnie went back to Leo’s side and leaned over, pulling up one of the papers. “Take two with plenty of water. Let me know if you get any dizziness or the headache worsens.”

Raph mumbled his thanks and turned away, trying his best to ignore the stares of his family. He didn’t want to be lectured by Splinter and Leo, and he didn’t want to be stared at by the family genius as if something was wrong with him. It was just a headache, he’d had worse before. Even so, the faster he managed to retreat to his room, the better. He was sure they’d start talking about him once he was out of earshot. Judging, hissing about how he’d messed up and his failure to even save himself the night before.

It wasn’t his fault. Rahzar got the upperhand. Nobody had bothered to help him except Donatello. He’d tried to dig him out before he got caught. Well… for a moment, anyway. But then he’d left him there, in the rubble.

_No. No, he got attacked._

Raph shook his head and picked up Chompy and his water, quickly making his way back to his room. His head was a mess and all of this second guessing and worrying wasn’t helping. If he got some sleep, then maybe things would ease off. It’d be fine eventually. They’d leave him to his own devices after a while and then on the next mission… they wouldn’t leave him to be captured.

**_I can’t even trust my own family anymore._ **


	16. Chapter 16

“He’s just been acting weird. He’s so angry all of the time now.”

“It’s Raph. He’s always mad.”

“…Not like this.”

April tilted her head and looked up at Donatello from where he stood at her side. It had been almost a week since the attack, and a long week at that. Her own bruises were finally beginning to heal, and Casey was still sporting a black eye (one that he refused to stop bragging about) that he didn’t seem bothered about. She’d originally thought the turtles would have healed up and be back to their normal crazy selves by now. The mutation boosted their healing, so they were never down for very long. That didn’t seem to be the same for mental wounds. Those took just as long as anyone else.

The distressed look on Donnie’s face surprised her. He was always worrying about his brothers, whether he admitted it or not. Honestly, she wasn’t sure if the others even realized how much worrying Donnie did over them. But this was something more. He didn’t take his eyes off of the metal parts in front of him, but his hand was clenched on his screwdriver, his brow creased. The genius was stressed. Anyone could see that.

Or well… she could, anyway.

“What do you mean?” April asked, hesitating before passing him a few screws. The easiest way to get Donnie to be honest with her was to distract him with his work. Somehow, in a way she would never be able to understand, Donatello always did better the more things he could do at once. Like talking about what was bothering him while rebuilding Metalhead at the same time. She was sure it had something to do with avoiding mulling over one single thought and letting them all cruise through his head, but it was always something incredible to see firsthand.

“Usually he’s mildly annoyed and shows it as a playful-slash-amused aggressive action. But since his concussion, it’s been straight up violence. He punched Leo yesterday. Not a swat or his usual bumps, but a flat out blow. He split his lip.” Donnie held out his hand for the pliers, which April quickly offered as he went on. “Concussions are neurological injuries, sure, but his was only mild. It shouldn’t be causing such a dramatic amplification of his anger. Not to mention his headaches. He says they still haven’t been easing off, and the meds aren’t working. It’s worrying all of us. Mikey won’t even spar with him in training because he’s been getting too rough.”

“Have you tried talking to him about it?”

“Of course. But that’s hard to do when he’s too proud to actually sit down and talk.”

It was hard to wrap her head around. Raphael was always aggressive, persay, but not violent to the point of hurting his brothers. He was all tough, but he always put his brothers before anything else. This simply didn’t make sense. April frowned as Donnie continued his work in silence, watching his hands move before she spoke up again.

“What do the others think?”

“I haven’t spoken to Mikey yet.” Donatello’s sigh made her heart clench. He sounded so tired. “Leo thinks it might have something to do with Shredder, or whatever he did to Raph when he was caught. But that just doesn’t make sense. If it was a brainworm, he would have shown signs of it by now, or something would have happened. Shredder is patient, but only to a certain point. He’d never waited this long to spring an attack before.”

“There’s a first time for everything.” April pointed out softly, raising a brow. “Shredder’s smart. He’ll do whatever it takes to hurt you guys, and that includes mixing things up to throw you off guard.”

Donnie nodded, but April could tell he wasn’t convinced. To be honest, neither was she. Shredder had never waited like this before, and there didn’t seem to be any reason he would start now. Even if he did… what could he have done? Raph didn’t have any signs of the brainworms; he was coherent and clear-headed, despite his anger. What else could Shredder have done? Maybe… Maybe Shredder wasn’t involved at all. It might just be something that was just… Raph.

Not a comforting thought.

That didn’t mean Donnie was going to feel okay about it though. April couldn’t leave her friend worrying and stressing about something he couldn’t control. Donnie was a genius, no one could deny that. Problem was, in fact, that he was a genius that took every problem to heart. If he couldn’t fix it, he either deemed it his fault or he literally didn’t rest until he figured it out.

“Hey.” April reached over, making sure her hand was gentle as she placed it on Donnie’s arm. He jumped as if she had struck him, his eyes flicking to her face. Once upon a time, he would have blubbered and blushed, spluttering over himself to try and win her over… she almost preferred that instead of the worry-driven fear he held in his eyes. “You’re doing what you can, Donnie.” she continued, keeping her voice soft. “When Shredder comes, we’ll be ready. And we’ll figure out what’s going on with Raph too. It’ll be okay.”

“I hope so.” Donnie murmured, but she caught the way his shoulders lost their tensed posture. April smiled to herself, content with even that much of a reaction. She wouldn’t be surprised if he went back to brooding later, but for now, he was alright.

“What about Master Splinter?”

Both of them turned at the sound of Leonardo’s voice. The turtle in question stood in the doorway, his eyes flicking over them for a moment, but he closed the door behind him and sidled over to the table. He seemed perfectly calm on the outside, but April could feel the anxiety radiating off of him. Leo was just as worried as Donnie had been, as much as he was trying to hide it. This was apparently a serious matter if it was making both of them this on edge. Leo flicked his eyes over their work, pausing as he looked at the AI chip Donnie held in his hand, but he didn’t say a word as he waited for Donnie to reply.

Something the lanky turtle didn’t seem very keen on doing.

“Donnie… You _have_ talked to Splinter, right?” Leo’s eyes narrowed as Donatello shook his head sheepishly. “Why not?! He might know what to do. Or maybe the healing hands—!”

“The healing mantras can’t fix everything, Leo.” Donnie sighed, cutting his brother off with a look. “We don’t even know what this is yet. Until I can sit down with Raph and talk to him _properly_ , we’re going to have to settle with theorizing. I don’t think we need to drag Master Splinter into this if it just turns out to be one of Raph’s mood swings. It might not even be something wrong, it could just be Raph having a rough time recovering. We don’t know yet, so we need to wait until we have more proof before we go jumping to conclusions.”

Leo didn’t seem very convinced, but he gave a nod and backed off. It sure seemed like something was wrong. Still… Donnie might be right. April frowned and looked over the half-fixed Metalhead, her own thoughts racing through her head. Raph likely wouldn’t open up to his brothers even if there was something going on.

But maybe… he would to her?

Ignoring the surprised looks the two brothers gave her as she jumped up out of her seat and tossed the tools down, April vaulted over the desk, jogging out to the livingroom. Even if Raph didn’t want to talk, maybe she could get a better feel on what was going on just by being near him. Which… looked like it was going to be a problem. He wasn’t in the livingroom, and it sounded like Mikey was in the kitchen singing to his cat again (which definitely meant Raph wasn’t there). And they’d just finished training a half hour ago… surely Raph wouldn’t be back in the dojo?

No. No, that didn’t feel right.

April tilted her head before she walked out into the livingroom, pausing by the pit. It was easy to pinpoint the auras of her friends. Splinter was in his room meditating, Leo and Donnie were back in the lab, Mikey was in the kitchen… maybe Raph wasn’t even here.

_Of course._

A soft smile lit up her face as she turned her head skyward to the grate above the TV, sighing as she spotted the shadowed form sprawled across the boards. It was the one place Raphael went to when he was overwhelmed. Which made sense, considering the last few days and the fact that his brothers were beginning to grow wary around him. He didn’t take any note of her even as she jumped up and stepped up the staircase, only shifting when she poked her head up to look at him.

He sure didn’t seem like his usual self. Chompy lay on his chest as the fragile sunlight beamed through the grate above, and usually the sight would have been cute, but it was overshadowed by the cloud that seemed to hang over the turtle. Something definitely wasn’t right, this wasn’t Raph. Well… not the way he should be, anyway. He had his mask down around his neck, giving April full view of the dark spots around his eyes and the exhaustion written over his face. Maybe he wasn’t sleeping well. Lack of sleep made anyone grumpy.

“Hey, April.”

So he was paying attention.

“You know, its much easier to stargaze when its nighttime.” Might as well try and start this off easy. April sat down on the planks, leaning back against the support beam before looking up to the grate. Every so often a shadow would pass over it – people, walking around on the world above, oblivious to the family just below them. The way they liked it.

“Har, har, very funny.” At least he seemed amused. April smiled as Raph gave a small smirk, the light roll of his eyes making her relax. He wasn’t stressed enough to not joke around. That was a very good sign. “Its called sunbathing. Chompy likes it.”

“Oh and you don’t?”

“Pff. I’m a night on the town kinda guy.”

“Yeah, you’re totally a party animal.”

Raph gave an amused snicker, giving her a look. This was the one turtle she could joke around with for days, or at least shoot retorts back and forth. He was a lot like her. Temper high, impulsive, but with a little more muscle mass and far less common sense. A good fit, really. April smiled, before she watched his face slowly fade back into that exhausted expression it had been before. The relaxed air around him began to flicker with tension again. She couldn’t have that.

Reaching over, April gently placed her hand on his arm, waiting until he turned to look up at her before she spoke.

“Why don’t you tell me what’s really going on?”

It was almost painful to watch his face go from scared to tired to regret so quickly. What was he hiding? Why was he so stressed? It didn’t make sense. Yeah, he was recovering from a harsh fight, but usually he wasn’t down and out for this long. April watched Raph fidget and fight with his pride before she finally pulled her hand away, letting him pull his arms down to pick up Chompy and scoot back to sit beside her instead of lay down. Even then, he didn’t say a word for a few moments, giving her a side glance.

“Ever feel like you’re out of place?” Raph asked, his voice much softer than she was used to. April didn’t reply for a moment, shrugging and looking down at the lair. It was so different from up here. She could see everything going on, from the turnstiles to the pool, to the kitchen and the lab doors. It was the perfect place to keep an eye out for anything or anyone.

Suddenly she understood why Raphael spent so much time up here.

“I’m a half-mutant living with a bunch of martial artists who happen to be turtles and my _Sensei_ is a rat. There’s not much more out of place you can get.” April replied, raising a brow as she looked over to him. For a moment she thought she’d said the wrong thing, because Raph seemed to close himself off; he pulled his legs up to his chest and tucked Chompy in to them, gently stroking the alien’s head. She didn’t want to have to pry to get him to talk, but if she had to, then she would. Luckily for her, Raph seemed comfortable enough to speak up again.

“I mean like… out of place. Like you don’t belong where you are.” Raph murmured, looking down at the lair. “Everyone else is so controlled. Leo’s the freakin’ definition of calm and collected. Donnie’s got everything under control and even Mikey knows what he’s doing with himself. They don’t get fits of anger or lose everything on someone else or lose control. They have everything together.”

Suddenly it was quite easy to understand his worry.

“Raphael.” April watched him blink at the sound of his full name and she waited until he looked over to her, making sure her eyes narrowed when he did. “You belong here more than you belong anywhere else in the world. This is your family. They don’t care about your temper, they care about _you_ and who you are. Even if you do lose control a few times or have a few explosions on them, they still love you. They always will. You know that, right?”

Raph hesitated as he looked back towards the lab, watching the door open. Leo stepped out for a moment, but apparently Donnie called him back, because a moment later he had turned away and retreated back into the lab. Raph finally just nodded, leaning his head back against the pole.

“I know. I just wish sometimes that I wasn’t such a danger to them. I don’t want someone to get hurt cause I lost it.”

“Oh, Raph…” April sighed, before twisting and leaning her head on his shoulder. He was always so protective and caring, and he worried more than Leo, which was something the others never seemed to realize. Everything about him revolved around his brothers and their safety. Even if he seemed to consider himself a threat to that, she couldn’t just let him wallow in that pain. Raphael was the guardian angel of the family, all muscle and heart of gold. He just had a bigger temper, that’s all. But he had his heart in the right place. “You might be a vicious and amazing fighter, and you might have the biggest temper I’ve ever seen, but that doesn’t make you a danger. It just makes you… you.”

“Besides. You could never hurt them. I know you better than that.”


	17. Chapter 17

_“Besides. You could never hurt them. I know you better than that.”_

His heart pounded in his chest as he stared at the floor of the dojo, the mats slowly staining darker as blood pooled around his feet. Sticky and warm, making a chill run down his spine. April’s words ran through his head again as he pulled his gaze up from the puddle to the rest of the dojo. Instantly, his heart lurched with pain, horror and grief. Four bodies; bloodied and broken and shredded apart. Shattered weapons sprinkled around them, the hilt of a sword sticking out of a chest.

_No…_

This wasn’t true, it couldn’t be. His hand trembled as he slowly turned his gaze to the tree at his side, bile rising up his throat. There was the fifth. The final body, draped over the branch like a limp cloth. He couldn’t see his brother’s face, but the blood dripping from shortened mask tails was all the answer he needed.

Raphael flinched as a cold hand landed on his shoulder. Out of nowhere, his whole body went stiff, breath freezing in his chest He couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe. Out of the corner of his eye, he could make out the skeletal fingers clenched onto his shoulder. Unfamiliar, foreign fingers, leading up to a blackened and fraying sleeve—

**_Well done, Raphael._ **

_No… N-No, I didn’t want this, I didn’t mean to!_

The hold on his body tightened as the other hand of the figure rose up on his other side, the fingers curling around and grabbing his face. Did he just whine? Maybe. Probably. To be fair, this was a little bit creepier than most of what he’d dealt with. Form quivering as the hand wrapped its fingers around his head, Raph suddenly jerked, the nails of the hand sharp and digging into his cheek to keep him still.

**_Yes… you did._ **

**_You will do nicely._ **

A groan from beside him caught his attention. The hothead couldn’t move his head, but he looked down, feeling as if those cold hands were wrapping around his heart instead. Donatello’s torn form was trying to move; his left arm bent at an odd angle, refusing to cooperate despite his efforts. Donnie didn’t lift his head enough to look at him, but Raph could see the agony ripping through his body, in the way every muscle was tense and how his little brother’s breaths were hitching with every inhale. Donnie needed help.

**_Oh, of course. Help him, Raphael._ **

**_Put him out of his misery._ **

The nails suddenly dug in to his face, pain lancing across his head as the hand tore away. Raph felt the shriek rip from his chest rather than heard it, hearing his own blood splatter over the floor, feeling his own flesh tear from his bone. He jerked as he was released, his hands flying up to his face to access the damage, pulling in a struggling breath—

\--before he sat up in his bed with a very concerned Chompy looking up at him.

It was both a shock and a relief to see his bedroom instead of the mess that had been in his nightmare. Raph pulled in shaking breaths as he tried to get a hold on his fear, pressing one hand to his face while he looked down at Chompy. His little fire tortoise seemed worried, trilling and going in circles before poking his chest with his beak. Chompy was always here for him. Even if he was too ashamed to go to his brothers for something as simple as a damned nightmare, he still had Chompy.

Even if it was just a dream, he could still feel the tingle where the blood had been pooling around his feet. Raph grit his teeth, trying to fight off the shivering threatening to drive him into a panic, grabbing Chompy with his free hand and pulling him close. _Just breathe. Feel Chompy’s warmth and take deep breaths. In, hold, out. In. Hold. Out._ Chompy seemed pleased to be held and squirmed happily, nuzzling his face against Raph’s neck. The tight sensation in his chest seemed to lift as he looked down at his child, a soft smile going over his face. Chompy could make everything okay in a heartbeat. Raph smirked finally, pulling his hand down from his face to pet Chompy’s head—

_That’s blood._

He was bleeding?

Pushing Chompy back onto the sheets, Raph flung himself out of bed and turned on his bedside lamp. The jack-o-lantern lit up the room in a soft orange glow, and it was light enough for Raph to make out the dark patch on his hand. He was bleeding. That was blood. Had Chompy scratched him in his sleep? It would explain the pain he’d felt in his dream, anyway. Wasn’t the first time real life things had appeared as parts of his nightmares. But he couldn’t have blood all over his face when he had training in—

Oh. It was still an hour before he had to wake up to get ready.

Raph sighed and stroked Chompy’s head with his clean hand once before he opened his door, slipping out of his room and silently going to the bathroom, trying his best not to wake his brothers. He didn’t need them seeing half of his face bloodied and fussing over him all over again. The wounds from the fight had healed and his head was slowly getting better, so it was fine, right? Yeah.

The bathroom light was far too bright for his tired eyes. Raph winced as he turned them on but he just closed the door behind him, making sure to lock it. He was almost scared to look at his face in the mirror, but relief flushed through his system as he realized the wound wasn’t that bad. It was still odd though. Raph frowned and leaned over the sink, eyes narrowing as he peered at the scratches. Three of them, breaking the skin just below his cheekbone up to his brow. Easily concealable with his mask. The others wouldn’t notice so long as he didn’t tear them open again.

Only problem was, they sure didn’t look like any kind of scratches Chompy would make. Even the spikes on Chompy’s shell weren’t this sharp. Raph shivered for a moment, before he just shook his head and grabbed a washcloth.

_Don’t be stupid. Dreams can’t **hurt you**. Must’ve left the shuko spikes on my bed or something, that’s all._

He didn’t know _why_ he would have left the shuko spikes on his bed, but then again, weirder things had happened.

The scratches weren’t very deep, either. Raph didn’t bother to flinch as he ran the washcloth over the scratches, cleaning the blood away from them. They’d heal within a day or two, and then nobody would even be able to see the, with his mask off. Wouldn’t be the first time he’d hidden wounds from his family, and guaranteed to not be the last. It only took a few strokes to clean them off, and a quick wipe to get the blood off of his hand, and then the evidence was gone besides the bloody washcloth. He could always just say he’d picked open a scab or something.

Tossing the cloth into the hamper beside the sink, Raph leaned against the counter, looking at his reflection in the mirror. He looked exhausted. Too many sleepless nights and the ones where he did sleep ended up with nightmares like that. It was draining, and he was already sure his family was beginning to notice. Splinter had remarked on how sloppy he’d been in training the day before, and even Mikey was asking him if he was alright now. He’d nearly punched him when his little brother persisted, but then again, fatigue and stress weren’t good for tempers.

Maybe a shower would help him calm down. It would sure help wake him up for training, anyway. Perhaps he could do better today.

A few minutes to let the water warm up properly and Raph stepped in, giving a small purr as the warm water ran down his shell. It drove the chills away, wrapping around him as the steam rose. Maybe this was why Leo always showered in the morning rather than before bed. It was nice to start out the day with warm muscles and scales that didn’t look like they were constantly shedding.

Heh.

Closing his eyes, Raph just stood there for a while, occasionally leaning his head back to let the water stream down over his face. He let his mind wander into nothing, just feeling the droplets trail off of his body, streaming over his shell down to his feet where it rippled and pooled around them.

_Is the drain clogged?_

Raph silently cursed and opened his eyes. If the drain was clogged, it meant another two hours of Donnie complaining and cursing as he snaked the drain to get whatever it was out. It would probably turn out to be old sheds and dirt again, or maybe a dead rat, which was never pleasant. Maybe he could just grab the auger and do it himself to spare the lecture. Rolling his eyes at whatever higher power was giving him rotten luck, Raph turned his eyes down, looking towards the drain.

The shower was running red.

The water pooling around his feet was as bright red as the blood that had been on his face, and it was running down his body in rivets, sticking to his skin, soaking into every crease and crack. He could taste it as it ran into his mouth, metallic and bitter, making him feel ready to throw up all over again.

He just managed to save himself from yelling out loud as he jerked away from the reddened water falling from the shower head, slamming into the opposite wall and whipping around.

It was clear again.

No blood, no stickiness to his scales, no staining, just clear clean water running smoothly down the drain and steam rising up from it. Raph trembled as he sank down against the wall, his legs sticking into the shower stream. Just water. But that didn’t explain the aftertaste in his mouth or the cold grip that had clenched itself around his heart at the sight, the way he was shaking and his head had begun to throb with the coming headache all over again.

After that, it was quite clear that maybe showering wasn’t the way to start the day. Raph retreated to his room as fast as he could, just in time to hear Leo’s door open across the hall as his closed. His hands were shaking. He was shaking. His knees felt ready to give out from under him and he couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t pull in enough air--!

Holding his breath and leaning against the wall to support himself, Raph trembled, slowly letting out his air once he regained control of his panicking chest. He rested there for a few minutes, just focusing on breathing rather than the sensation of blood running over his body, coating his hands, pooling at his feet. He never wanted to feel that again, he didn’t want to see it, _God, what is wrong with me?!_

A knock at the door.

“Raph? You coming out for breakfast? I’m gonna make some eggs if you want any.”

Leo was gonna make breakfast? Oh joy. He’d end up burning the whole place down. Either way, it’d be a good distraction after all. Raph groaned and held his head as it throbbed again, sinking to his knees.

_Stop, stop, stop…!_

“Raph…?”

“I-I’m not hungry!” Raph snapped as the door handle turned, reaching out to hold the door closed with his hand while his other clenched the side of his head. He didn’t want Leo seeing him like this, face scratched, shaking, _vulnerable._ “I’ll eat later, when Mikey makes it cause you burned the whole kitchen to the freaking ground.”

Silence for a moment, before he heard Leo’s annoyed huff as his brother turned and stalked off. He felt a brief flash of regret for snapping so furiously, but it was the easiest way to make Leo go away. Raph sighed as the headache finally faded off, letting his hands drop to his lap as he leaned back against the wall. There was a cold sweat over his body as if he’d just woken up from another terror, and he felt dizzy. Maybe he should talk to Donnie. Maybe he wasn’t getting better.

_What the hell is wrong with me?_


	18. Chapter 18

It wasn’t a surprise to find Leonardo in the kitchen so early. He was always first up, getting some tea to start off the day while he waited for Mikey to get up and make breakfast and for the others to join them. What _was_ surprising was when Leo decided to try and make breakfast himself. It didn’t happen often, because Leonardo wasn’t exactly very _good_ at working in the kitchen. Mikey had banned the leader from cooking anything either than ramen and tea due to his uncanny ability to set almost anything on fire. Due to this, Leo had convinced himself that the toaster was sentient and out to get him.

Sometimes Donatello was tempted to agree. The appliance only broke when Leonardo was around, and it seemed to break anytime Leo so much as Looked at it wrong. He’d fixed this specific toaster exactly sixteen times in the last two months and he wasn’t looking forward to having to repair it again. Though Leo wasn’t messing around with the toaster at the moment, Donnie was quite sure that if he so much as nudged it, the appliance would fall to pieces just from spite for his brother. It was probably best to get Leo out of range of the toaster’s wrath before that happened.

“What are you doing, Leo?”

Leo jumped as Donnie spoke, whipping around almost guiltily. Oh, good. Leo knew he wasn’t supposed to be in here messing around with the oven or any other piece of machinery in this room. Donnie gave him a look as he trudged into the kitchen, reaching for a mug. Apparently Leo was already ahead of him this morning, considering the coffee pot was already on and brewing.

That, or Leo had already broken something. Asking forgiveness was much better than asking permission.

“I’m making breakfast. I was hungry.”

“And you didn’t wait for Mikey to wake up and make it first, why?” Donnie retorted, watching Leo make an attempt at flipping his eggs. He managed to flip them just fine, but the grease from the pan splashed out onto Leo’s hand. Donatello turned and poured his coffee into his cup with a sigh, tactfully ignoring his brother’s foul mouth, only turning back when he heard the clink of a plate. Leo had his hand up to his mouth and scowled at the pan, finally giving a huff.

“I can handle making breakfast, Donnie.”

“Sure ‘bout that?”

Leo jerked back to his work with a yelp, grabbing the pan up from the stove and nearly tipping the contents onto the already flaming burner. Deciding he would rather not have Leo grab some water and make the fire worse, he reached into the cupboard and pulled out a handy little fire extinguisher. A hiss of air and the stove was extinguished, while Donnie returned to his coffee. Leo looked annoyed and set the pan of half-burnt eggs down, giving Donnie a glare.

“Don’t say a word.”

All Donnie did was give his brother a rather smug smile. He was right and they both knew it, and that was fine enough for him. He didn’t need to rub it in – yet.

“What. Did. You. _DO?!_ ”

Both of them jumped at the yell and turned to see Mikey standing in the archway, his blue eyes widening with horror. Donatello shot the eldest a glance as he took a sip from his mug, watching the normally stoic and honor-bound face redden as Mikey stalked into the room. The freckled turtle looked almost furious as he examined the stove, but to Leo’s and Donnie’s surprise, he ended up whirling around on Donatello instead.

“You _let him_?!” Mikey hissed, rushing over to the stove and trying to clean it off. The guilty look on Leo’s face made up for Mikey’s blame, and Donnie finally just sighed, scowling. There was going to be no winning this morning, but it could have ended much worse. Donnie didn’t even get a chance to retort before Mikey was waving him out of the kitchen. “Out! _Leonardo_ is gonna stay and help me clean up. _You_ can go wake Raph and tell him to come for breakfast.”

 _Ugh. At least I don’t have to stay and clean up._ Donatello scowled again as he took the last few gulps of his coffee and left his mug on the counter, pouting as he headed for the bedrooms. He was still tired, and he wasn’t ready to face the day without at _least_ four more cups. But that didn’t matter. Mikey would make him some more with breakfast and he’d be able to get his caffeine fix before training. Mikey, no matter how angry, always seemed to be watching out for them all. A fact that Donnie was incredibly grateful for, whether he was caffeine deprived or not.

Deciding to complain to Leo after training, Donnie stopped at Raph’s door and knocked.

“Raph, you in there? Breakfast time.”

No response.

Odd. Usually Raph at least gave an angry grunt to show that he’d heard. And he wasn’t _that_ deep of a sleeper. Frowning, Donnie knocked again, before gently opening the door. Empty. Well, besides the happy little squirming alien that was on the bed. Chompy seemed delighted to have a visitor, his whole body wriggling as he scrambled to the edge of the bed to greet Donatello. Maybe Raph was already stretching. He didn’t get up early to stretch often, but it did happen sometimes. Especially after injuries. Donnie huffed and closed the door behind him, only pausing to give Chompy a hearty pat on the head.

If Raph was awake early to stretch his muscles before training, he would probably end up in the dojo. Knowing Mikey wouldn’t just let him go back without telling Raph to get food first, Donnie headed instead for their training room, giving a long yawn. Maybe four cups would do him well enough to get through training before he could retreat to his beautiful coffee maker he had in his lab, but six would be far better.

True enough, there he was. Not training, to Donnie’s surprise, but seated on the floor in front of the dojo tree in the position Leo and Splinter often used to meditate. Raph didn’t meditate often, if at all, and it was really strange to see him in here doing it now. Alarm bells went off in Donnie’s head as he watched his brother, his brow creasing in worry. Was his head getting worse? Maybe he was trying to stave off the pain or a headache… If so, there were plenty of painkillers they had access to. He was sure to be able to find one in his lab that would ease Raph’s pain enough to get through the day.

“Raph. Hey. Mikey wants you to come eat.”

Either Raph was angry at him for some reason or another, or something was wrong. The meditation was the biggest clue. Raphael did _not_ meditate. He rarely made it through Splinter’s lessons on it, and Donnie didn’t know of a time where he willingly meditated outside of that. Maybe Raph was just trying to work harder at it to make Splinter happy.

Maybe not.

Donnie frowned as he approached his brother, reaching out to touch his arm. He felt Raph flinch away from his touch, as if he was jerking out of his trance. He really _was_ meditating.

“Raph--?”

“Go away.”

Pausing in his tracks, Donnie’s frown deepened. Raph’s voice sounded strained and almost exhausted. Was his head hurting so bad he wasn’t sleeping? _He should have come to me._ Lack of sleep definitely wasn’t going to help Raph heal any faster. Maybe he’d underestimated the extent of Raph’s concussion. If so, he definitely wanted to get a better look at his brother’s head. Lasting head trauma was not something they needed to deal with right now. They needed to be at the top of their game, especially with all the strange stuff going on with Shredder.

“Raph, talk to me. Are you okay? I can get you something for your head if y--”

“I said _go **away!**_ ”

Raphael rushed up from his seated stance with such speed that even Donnie’s reflexes didn’t have time to kick in and get him out of the way. His brother’s fist collided with his jaw and left his head reeling, the rest of his body stumbling back to try and catch himself. It wasn’t the first time he’d taken a hit from the hothead and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. But it was just so… unexpected. Raph didn’t lash out like this without warning often.

_Technically he did warn me._

_Focus, Donatello._

Wincing and touching his hand to his jaw, Donnie flicked his eyes back up to the seething turtle in front of him. He could hear Mikey and Leo arguing from the kitchen, almost playfully, before Mikey’s music turned on and drowned them both out. He could call for them. But that would just make Raph angrier, and he really wanted to know what the hell was going on with his brother without further incident. What was important right now was getting Raphael under control and finding out why he’d just been _punched in the face._

“I’m trying to help you. Tell me what’s going on.”

The growl that came from Raph’s chest made a chill run down his spine, and he felt his blood turn to ice as Raph lifted his eyes to meet his. His eyes… they were _red._ Not like _I-just-finished-crying-red_ or irritation, but his normally green irises were _glowing_ with a bright crimson. The glow slowly spread to the rest of his eyes, bleeding with the color of his mask, and Donatello couldn’t help but feel fear lash through his chest.

_Definitely **not** the concussion._


	19. Chapter 19

_Donnie?_

He’d gone into the dojo to meditate after his little episode in the shower. Meditation was definitely boring and annoying and he hated it, but in times like this, he needed some way to ease his mind and clear his thoughts. Obviously showering wasn’t gonna help, and he really didn’t feel like breaking his fist against the wall again. He just… he needed to clear his head. He needed to figure it out. He couldn’t ask the others; they’d think he was insane. Asking Splinter for help was out of the question. He probably wouldn’t understand. He’d probably think Raph was going insane and try to keep him away from his brothers until it got sorted out.

Raphael had been doing fine until his brother walked in. He was sure he’d almost reached the right mindset, that special sort of relaxation that brought in the trance that Splinter was so good at getting into. Probably not, but he could hope. But then Donnie walked in, and Raph could have sworn he felt his blood boil instantly.

“Raph. Hey.”

He didn’t hear the rest of Donnie’s sentence. The sudden burst of anger in his chest shocked him, and it took almost all of his concentration just to keep seated. What was going _on_ with him? He was never this angry at being disturbed. Trying to resist the urge to lunge up and punch Donnie in the face, he flinched away as his brother’s hand grazed his arm. It didn’t hurt, but it surprised him, and it didn’t help his headache. Raph grit his teeth as he stiffened, managing to choke out an attempt at words as the pressure in his head built.

“Raph--?”

“Go away.”

He didn’t hear Donatello leave, and he couldn’t focus on listening for his retreating steps. His ears were ringing and his head was searing with pain, and for a moment, he was sure his skull might split open just to try and release the building pressure. Raph could feel his body tensing, trying to relieve the pain by bracing the rest of his muscles, but the more he tried to focus on going back to meditating, the harder it became to do so. How did Splinter and Leo _do_ this? This was impossible! His head was just hurting more and he couldn’t hear anything, the ringing rising higher in pitch, getting louder as his head swam. Was he falling? No. But his head was whirling, and he could feel the way his balance wavered. He wasn’t falling yet, but he definitely felt like it.

Donnie didn’t leave, but he didn’t get any closer. Raph’s body trembled under the strain of keeping still and upright, and suddenly his head surged with agony as a roar burst from his throat. Words were in it, but he couldn’t process what he’d even said. In all of the pain and the daze, Raph didn’t realize he was on his feet until his eyes snapped open and he was glaring at the floor, heaving breaths coming from his chest. A vague ache in his knuckles told him he’d punched something, but he didn’t even remember aiming. Donnie had backed away. He was on the floor.

He’d punched his brother?

**_Idiot deserved it._ **

Someone was laughing. He could hear it - someone else was in the room. It didn’t sound like any of his brothers, though. Donnie definitely wasn’t laughing, and he was just panting, so it wasn’t him. It sounded like it was coming from behind him. Raph hissed through his teeth as he turned his head to look behind him—

\--but his head didn’t turn.

It wasn’t the first time he’d felt something like this. He was so deep in his anger that he couldn’t control himself, but somehow this was different. He could hear the laughter coming closer, getting louder—it was familiar? What was going on?

“I’m trying to help you. Tell me what’s going on.”

Oh. Donnie was talking again. Raph tried to respond, tried to tell him to back off, go away, get out of here. He didn’t want to deal with him right now. But all that came out was a growl from deep in his chest. He didn’t want to growl, that’s not what he was trying to do. All of the anger he’d felt vanished in an instant as his body moved, lifting his head to look up at Donatello. He hadn’t done that. He hadn’t moved his head, what was going on, _what was happening--?!_

**_He came right to me._ **

The same voice. He’d heard that voice last night in his nightmare, he knew that voice, who was it--?! Why—

It was in his head. Why was there a voice in his head?!

Maybe he really was going insane.

**_Not quite._ **

_I don’t—_

“Raph—?”

“You don’t know how to listen, do you?” Raph felt his jaw and tongue move, his voice laced with fury and disgust, his hand moving for his side. That wasn’t him. He wasn’t doing this, _what the hell_ , he didn’t want this! Donnie’s face jerked into a panicked expression as he backed off, his eyes locking onto Raph’s hand. Why did he look so scared? It took a moment for Raph to realize he had pulled out his sai and was holding it in a white-knuckle grip. He could barely feel it. It was like his hand wasn’t even connected to his body.

Raph lunged for Donnie – or at least, his body did. His sai went straight for Donnie’s face, and he was incredibly grateful that this time, Donnie was prepared enough to counter it. Because he wasn’t the one trying to attack his brother. He could still feel the anger in his chest, but it was disconnected. It didn’t feel real. The pain in his head definitely was, however, and the soft laughter had risen into cackling that muffled the sounds coming from the kitchen. All he could hear was the laughter and his breathing, which cut out into a sharp grunt as Donnie’s bo connected with his chest. In the time it took him to register he’d been hit, Donnie had flipped him over onto his shell and was pinning him with his bo against his neck.

“Raph, cut it out! I don’t know what’s going on with you but--!” Donatello cut off with a shriek as blood splattered onto the mats from the cut in his ankle, the lanky turtle’s grip on his staff laxing as he backed off a few paces. Raph’s arm moved back into view, the tip of his sai dripping slowly with his brother’s blood.

_I hurt Donnie._

Oh boy this was getting bad. And he couldn’t do anything to stop it! The more Raph tried to control himself, the fuzzier his mind got and the pain just rose. Internally, Raph screamed desperately, trying to regain his control over his body as it just drew further. He couldn’t even feel the sai in his hand anymore. He could barely see Donnie as he stood up, and the more Donnie tried to talk the more muffled his voice became. It got to the point where Raph was quite sure he was going to pass out, and then his body lunged in, his sai going right for Donnie’s chest.

Once again, Donnie was ready. He slammed his hand up and blocked Raphael’s attack, his other hand rushing in to jab at his throat. Good. Donnie wasn’t afraid to hurt him. Which, to be fair, was kind of terrifying, but at the same time it was such a relief. Donnie could protect himself.

**_Not for long._ **

Who _was_ that?!

His brother was moving towards the archway, trying to back himself out of the dojo to get to the others. Raph could almost feel the second whoever it was realized the same thing, and his sai was out of his hand before he even thought of it. This was getting so much worse, and Donatello was bleeding, and he couldn’t move except he _was_ moving and there was the _laughter_. He knew that laugh, but he couldn’t figure out where.

Suddenly he began to feel his body again. Raph gasped as he crashed down onto the mats, whatever strange force that had been controlling him vanishing in an instant. Oh, thank God that was over. Panting harshly, the pain in his head still beating as strong as ever, Raph turned over and struggled to push himself back onto his knees. His tongue felt heavy in his mouth, and he was sure that if he tried to talk, nothing would come out anyway. He didn’t need to speak anyway. Donnie had rushed back to his side as soon as he was back on his knees, frantically spewing out questions and looking over him before he could even think of the answer.

This was… bad. That was all he could think. Something was insanely wrong with him and he had no idea what it was. Did he finally snap? Had he gone nuts? It didn’t feel like it, because he still felt like he was normal. Just with the intense headache. Raph lifted a shaky hand to his head, swallowing the lump in his throat as April’s words rang back at him. Donnie’s hand rested on his shell as he tried to help him up, and Raphael gladly leaned into the assistance. Maybe he’d feel better once Donnie gave him some meds or something.

As fast as it had left, the feeling was back. Raph’s breath choked in his chest and Donnie stiffened beside him, but there was nothing he could do. The laughter turned into cackling and his body betrayed him, whipping around and grabbing Donnie by the neck, slamming him against the wall now that his guard was down. It had been a trap. _He_ was a trap.

_Donnie, come on, please! Figure this out, HELP ME!_

No amount of yelling in his head was going to get the message across to his brother. Even though he was certain Donnie was already trying to work through things in his own head, Raph had a bad feeling this wasn’t going to end with either of them getting to a cure. Where the hell were Leo and Mikey!? Why weren’t they in here yet?! They needed to get Donnie—oh. He was already out of his grip.

It didn’t matter.

His body ducked away from Donnie’s punch and his hand moved to his hip. Flick of his wrist, sai in hand, and Raph kicked off of the wall. He had a split second to register the terror that spread over Donnie’s face and felt himself reply with the same emotion. Donnie was scared of him. Of his own big brother. That was never supposed to happen. He was the protector, the strength of the team. His brothers should never have to be scared of him. Raph screamed at himself, trying to get his aim off, to do anything. He needed to keep his brother safe!

_Donnie, NO!_

And then the sai connected with Donnie’s head.

There was a fleeting moment of vertigo as he flipped over onto his feet, turning in time to watch Donatello collapse onto the floor. Blood streamed from his head, spreading and soaking into the dojo mats, but Donnie didn’t move. He didn’t groan and get up and curse Raph to hell, he didn’t cry, he didn’t even make a sound.

**_Finally._ **

The pressure on his head and body vanished again, this time for good, and Raphael crumpled onto the floor. His hands shook as he pushed himself up, and he felt the tears stream down his face before he realized he was sobbing. He’d… he’d done this. This was his fault, Donnie wasn’t moving and there was blood _everywhere_ …

Pulling himself to Donnie’s side, Raph pulled him close, his own breath hitching as he looked over his brother’s face.

**_What the hell is wrong with you?! You killed him! He’s your brother, or he was. You should have kept him safe. You should have protected him._ **

**_Monster._ **

He killed him.

Donnie was dead.

Raph’s throat clenched as he gently lay Donnie back down onto the floor, shaking as he looked up to the archway. He could hear the music blasting from the kitchen. They didn’t even know. Mikey and Leo… they’d hate him. They’d be furious. They’d probably try to kill him once they came in and found Donnie.

He had to leave. He had to run.

**_Go._ **

Grabbing his sai, Raphael turned tail on his brother’s body and bolted for the turnstiles as stealthily as he could, leaping over them and vanishing into the darkness of the sewer tunnels. He didn’t see the rats watching him run. He didn’t see Donnie’s chest shift with a breath on the dojo floor. He didn’t see the red eyes glowing from the shadows as April’s words rang through his head.

_“Besides. You could never hurt them. I know you better than that.”_


	20. Chapter 20

Trying to keep Leo out of the kitchen was harder than he thought. Every few minutes he found his oldest brother trying to sneak in for something or another. Why couldn’t he just _wait_ for breakfast to be ready? Eventually he just let Leo sit at the table and watch, and then Leo started trying to play his music, which was _not_ happening today. It ended up in a wrestle for control of the radio speaker, and he’d eventually won the challenge. Of course he had used a handful of flour to get Leo off guard enough to usher him away, but he’d still won and that’s what mattered. That, _and_ he’d managed to get breakfast done. Eggs, bacon, far too much coffee for anyone sane, a full teapot, cereal and the usual fruit bowl. A fair breakfast for four growing teens and their father.

Now to get the others in here.

Leo had gone off to wipe his face, and Splinter was on his way. True, he had no idea where Splinter was, but he’d show up in time to eat. He always did. Raphael, on the other hand… Maybe he needed to give Donnie some help with that. Sometimes Raph was a pain to get out of bed, and he wasn’t sure Donnie had the patience to deal with him this morning. Especially before his coffee. He had one cup, but that wasn’t going to be enough.

Skipping down the hall, Mikey turned the handle to Raph’s room and pushed the door open. The lights were off, but it was easy to tell by the silence that nobody was in here. The only one on the bed was Chompy, who looked absolutely delighted to have a visitor. Mikey tilted his head and gave the little alien a wave, before glancing around again.

Well, they weren’t here, that was for sure. Mikey frowned, before shrugging and closing the door after giving Chompy a small chirp of goodbye. It wasn’t uncommon for Raph to go start stretching before breakfast so his knees didn’t lock up during training. The injury didn’t happen often, but it was hell when it did, because Raph was probably Donnie’s least favorite patient to deal with. Maybe they were both in the dojo; Raph probably goaded Donnie into joining him while they waited for breakfast. Or maybe Raph thought if he started early, he could get out of breakfast.

Well _that_ wasn’t happening.

Heading to the dojo, Mikey prepared himself to scold his brothers. Breakfast was the _most important_ meal of the day! It was a big part of a young turtle’s healthy diet, and he’d made it himself with _love._ They weren’t getting out of it that easily, hungry or not. Squaring his shoulders, Mikey marched up the stairs to the dojo and put his hands on his hips, putting his sassiest face on.

“You guys better have--!”

_Oh. Oh, God._

Mikey cut off on his lecture as his eyes fell upon the scene. There was blood splattered all over the mats, the tree. He couldn’t see Raph anywhere, but… _Donnie!_

Donatello was laying on the floor, blood pooling around his head, his mask torn and laying under his skull. He looked _dead_ , but he took a breath as Michelangelo rushed to his side. Oh, thank goodness. There was a massive gash over the side of his head, and blood was still oozing out of it. Tearing off his own mask, Mikey held it to Donatello’s head, his heart pounding in his chest as he let out a shriek. He needed help here, he couldn’t help Donnie on his own.

_“LEO!”_

“Hold on, Donnie, okay? You’ll be fine, I got you, come on…” Mikey whispered, shivering as he pulled Donnie onto his lap. He knew Donnie couldn’t hear him, but it made him feel better to talk. He could at least pretend he was actually reassuring his brother and keep himself calmer instead of panicking. It literally only took seconds for Leo to burst into the dojo, his katana drawn and his eyes white, whole body ready for battle. But as soon as he took in the situation, Leo dropped his swords to the floor and bolted to Mikey’s side, his eyes as wide as saucers.

“What happened?!”

“I don’t know, I just found him!” Mikey stammered, shaking as Leo shifted Donnie to look at the wound on his head. Donnie couldn’t die, he couldn’t bleed out here on the dojo floor, right?! Whatever attacked him could still be here! That thought alone jerked Michelangelo into grabbing a kunai from his wrist, glancing around. He wasn’t going to let whatever had hurt his brother to come back and finish the job.

Leo’s hand came away bloody, and the sight made Mikey sick. He was usually fine with blood; he had to be. They got hurt every day. But somehow, finding his brother here on the floor of their own home… it made him feel sick. Leo shifted his hand to keep the pressure on Donnie’s wound as Mikey trembled, but he was doing his best to keep calm. He couldn’t help Donnie if he was freaking out.

“Where’s Raph?” Leo asked suddenly, snapping his head up. The question made Mikey hesitate, and he got back up onto his feet, looking around the room. There was no other signs of a struggle (if Raphael had been taken by something, there was guaranteed to be a struggle), and the only blood seemed to belong to Donatello. But that didn’t make sense. Raph should have been in here. He wasn’t in his room, he wasn’t with Chompy, and the bathroom had been empty.

“I don’t know.”

“Is Chompy here?”

“Um… yeah, why?”

Even as he replied, Mikey realized why Leo was asking. Raph never went anywhere without Chompy unless it was patrol. If Chompy was still here, it meant Raphael was close by.

Unless Raph had been kidnapped by whatever attacked Donnie.

 _Stop it! That doesn’t make sense, why wouldn’t it have taken Donnie too?_ Unless it was Slash. Slash had always had it out to get his hands on Raphael, even when he’d supposedly turned ‘good’. Michelangelo still found it hard to trust him, and even now, he’d kept his suspicions. _But how would he have gotten in? It doesn’t **make sense!**_ Overreacting wasn’t going to help anything. And it wasn’t going to help Donnie, either. If Raph was missing, they’d find him.

“—inter, he’ll know how to help Donnie.” Oops. He’d zoned out as Leo was speaking. Which, to be honest, was fair on his part. He was freaking out! Mikey gave Leo a little half-terrified, half-sheepish look and tilted his head innocently. Leo at least had the tact to not look annoyed considering the situation, just giving a small huff.

“S-Sorry. What’d you say?”

“I said go get Splinter. He’ll know how to figure out how badly Donnie’s hurt.”

“Donatello is hurt?” Both of them jumped as Splinter’s voice came from the entrance to the dojo, and relief flooded through Mikey’s chest. Splinter was here now. Donnie was gonna be fine, so long as they hurried. Splinter rushed over to them, something like pain shooting over his face before he frowned, looking around at the bloodied floor. It sure looked like a mess. And it sure didn’t look like an accident, either. The expression on Splinter’s face told him he’d had the same thought, but it vanished as Splinter took charge of the situation. Something the brothers were glad to turn over to him.

“Leonardo, help me move your brother to his room. He will be safer there. Michelangelo, I need bandages, and some water. Quickly!” Finally he had something he could help with. Mikey nodded and rushed out of the dojo, practically flying on his feet as he bolted for the med kit in Donnie’s lab. Splinter was there, Donnie would be fine, but right now he had a job to do.

 _Med kit, med kit, med—there!_ Why did Donnie always have it so high up?! Mikey huffed and leaped up onto the counter, grabbing the first aid kit from the top shelf before flipping off back onto the floor. If Donnie thought hiding things higher up was going to keep him from getting at it, he was totally wrong. Splinter had only said bring bandages and water, but maybe the whole med kit would be better. Tilting his head, Mikey fought with the options for a moment before just bolting out to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water, and rushed for Donnie’s room. The small trail of blood droplets every few feet wasn’t comforting, but it stopped as he got to the hall.

Donnie’s room wasn’t exactly clean. For someone who kept their lab as tidy as Leonardo kept his katanas, Donatello sure had to work on keeping his room in the same order. He slept more in the lab than his bedroom anyways, but it didn’t really help the matter. The genius’ room was decorated like all of the others’, but with science posters instead of action figures and movies. A periodic table here, a quote from Einstein over there… At least on the walls. His desk was cluttered with a mess of metal parts and papers, and half made inventions took up the shelves on his walls. The only thing that didn’t seem to have an incredible amount of mess on it was his bookshelves; Donatello always took care to keep those in order in case he needed quick access to a book.

The bed, however, had been cleaned off and was now occupied by the injured turtle himself. Splinter wiped the blood away from his head with a rag while Leo looked a little awkward and worried, standing to the side and looking up as Mikey rushed in. He didn’t speak as the youngest rushed forward and shoved the first aid kit and the water bottle at his father, panting as he stepped back.

“Thank you, my son.” Splinter murmured, opening the first aid kit and beginning to work on Donnie’s wound. It didn’t look so bad now that Splinter had it cleaned off of all the gore. It wasn’t a clean cut by no means, jagged and ripped around the edges, but it wasn’t very deep. Just long, spanning from nearly the corner of his eye back to his ear slit. And now that the blood was wiped away, Mikey began to realize that wasn’t the only wound Donnie had.

His jaw was beginning to bring up a nasty looking bruise, and there was a paler one going around his neck. The only other bleeding spot though was a cut on his ankle, with the same kind of ragged look that his injury had. Common sense told him it had been caused by the same weapon. Overactive imagination told him it looked more like a massive claw mark.

“Master Splinter, is… Donnie gonna be alright?” Leo’s voice jerked him out of his overactive mind, Mikey snapping his eyes over to his brother before looking up at his father with a bit of a desperate look. He needed Donnie to be okay. Thankfully, Splinter looked over at them and nodded, and Mikey felt his shoulders slump with relief.

“He may have a concussion, but it is not life-threatening. He will recover.” Splinter reassured, wrapping bandages around Donnie’s head. “Donatello will need to rest. We, however, will not gain such a relief.”

“What do you mean, Sensei?” Mikey glanced over as Leo reached forward, picking up some of the leftover gauze and beginning to press it to the wound on Donnie’s ankle. It had stopped bleeding, but it still looked pretty rough. “Isn’t it good that Donnie’s gonna be okay?”

“Of course. But we have to find out what attacked him, and why. This was no accident, my sons. These are deliberate marks. Until we find the culprit, we will have to keep a close eye on your brother. No doubt whatever made this attempt will return to finish it. I will remain here with your brother for now. See if you can find out what did this.”

Well, _that_ was comforting. Mikey felt a ball of dread begin to build in his chest, and one glance to Leo’s face told him his brother felt the same way. This wasn’t good. Something was after their brothers, and that something might have already taken Raphael. Donnie was next. Maybe it was going to come for them all. Stumbling along with Leo’s tugging as the leader grabbed his arm and practically dragged him from the room, Mikey felt like his stomach was going to be sick all over again, and the prospect of breakfast didn’t seem so appetizing anymore.


	21. Chapter 21

As soon as they were out of Splinter’s earshot, Leonardo whipped around to face his little brother, feeling his stomach writhe at the emotions flickering over Mikey’s face. He was so scared, and so worried. And he couldn’t blame him. This was a completely new situation, something they hadn’t dealt with before, and it was terrifying. Their brother was down for the count for who knows how long. Something had come into their own home to attack him, and they had to figure out what.

“Are you alright?” Leo asked softly, feeling his brow crease as he looked over his brother’s face. It was kind of a stupid thing to ask, but he felt like he was obligated to. That, and he really wanted to know. Mikey was his youngest brother, and with all of them in danger now, he had to make sure he could keep them all safe. He couldn’t do that if Mikey was going to flip off the rails.

“No.” Mikey admitted, his voice quiet as he looked away. “I’m freaking out, man… whatever hurt Donnie probably got Raph! What if it hurts him too, what if we don’t find him in time? What if it comes back to get _us?_ ”

“If it does, we’ll handle it. Donnie’s gonna be fine, Mikey. We’ll keep an eye on him, and when Splinter keeps watch over him, we’ll go find Raph. We can _handle_ this.” Leo put his hand on Mikey’s shoulder and gave a squeeze, offering him the most reassuring look he could muster up right now. After all, Mikey wasn’t the only one freaking out about all of this. He had valid points.

What if it killed Raphael or came back for Donatello?

_I won’t let it get them._

“Come on. Let’s get some tea and then we’ll go clean the dojo and figure out what’s going on. I think we need to calm down before we do anything else.” Taking a glance down to his own hands and then his brother’s, Leo offered a small shrug. “You go wash your hands and I’ll boil the kettle. I can wash my hands in the kitchen. Okay?”

Following Leo’s look down to his hands, Mikey nodded, though he didn’t relax. It would take a while before he did – he was as shaken up as Leo felt. But he did as he was asked. Maybe the distraction would help. As Mikey turned and silently left for the bathroom, Leo let go of a quivering sigh, fighting down the urge to panic.

Something had come into their home. Something or someone had come in here and nearly killed their brother, possibly taken the other and it would probably be back again. They hadn’t even gotten breakfast and something was already out to get them! How was he supposed to keep his brothers safe if he didn't even know what he was fighting? It had snuck into the lair without any of them knowing and left just as silently! He couldn’t fight that! Whatever it was hadn’t even tipped off _Splinter_! He wouldn’t be able to protect them, he hadn’t been able to protect Donatello or Raphael and now he had to try and keep Mikey safe—

After a moment of struggling with his tightened chest, he managed to pull in a breath. _Stop._ Leo held it for a moment, slowly letting it out as he unclenched his fists. He couldn’t freak out, not yet. Right now, he needed to make sure Mikey was in a good state of mind, make sure Donnie was stable, figure out where Raphael was…

_No. Right now, I just have to worry about Mikey. One thing at a time._

Gathering himself, the eldest went to the sink, letting the water run over his hands. He washed them quickly, making sure to get all of the blood off before he even touched the kettle. By the time he heard Mikey returning, he had poured up two cups of tea, gently placing them both on the table. Tea had always helped him relax and gather his thoughts; hopefully it would help do the same for his brother.

“You really think Donnie’s gonna be okay?” Mikey murmured softly, his voice sounding a little rough. Leo nodded, not replying as Mikey sat down. He took the seat beside his brother, shifting a little closer so that his side brushed against Mikey’s. A physical comfort, which Mikey seemed glad to lean into. Picking up his cup, Leo brought it to his lips, taking a sip of his tea before he finally nodded again.

“If Sensei says so, he will be. Donnie’s strong, Mikey. Once he wakes up, he’ll be able to tell us what happened. But we just need to figure out what to do before then.”

“When do you think he’s gonna wake up?”

“I... don’t know. It could be tonight, it could be tomorrow. Could be a few days.” Leo admitted, watching Mikey’s expression fall back into worry. “But he will. Once he does, we’ll sort this out pretty fast. Don’t worry about it.”

The youngest leaned a little more on his brother as a comfortable silence fell between them, letting the tea and the warmth of one another be their comfort for now. Things were a mess, but this was a good reminder that they still had each other. Leo glanced over to the breakfast that Mikey had prepared. It was already cold, forgotten in all of the commotion. He was pretty sure it wasn’t going to get eaten this morning either; his stomach churned at the thought of food, and he was sure Michelangelo felt the same.

“I-I’ll put it in the fridge and we can have it tomorrow when Donnie’s awake.” Mikey piped up. Leo glanced over at him and smiled, finishing off his tea. Already optimistic, which was good. That was one thing that he loved about his little brother. He knew how to find the light in every situation, and that helped keep not only his spirits up, but the rest of theirs.

“Let’s put the food away and start looking around the dojo. There’s bound to be clues somewhere of what happened.”

\-----

By the time they’d cleaned up the blood on the dojo floor and gotten the room itself looking trainable again, the only clue they’d found was a gouge in the wall that Leo wasn’t exactly sure came from today. It looked like Raph’s sai, but then again, the amount of times Raphael’s weapon had slammed into the wall surpassed all of the others combined. Other than that, nothing. No sign of Raph, no clue as to who or what had hurt Donnie in the first place.

It was incredibly disheartening. But he couldn’t give in to that. Leo sighed as he nudged Donnie’s bedroom door open, the stress of the day feeling like a weight on his shoulders. He’d told Splinter that he would take the next watch, but apparently Mikey had beat him to it.

The freckled turtle was curled up beside their injured brother, laying on the bed and stuck to his side like glue. He hadn’t expected anything different, but he wasn’t prepared for the guilty look on Mikey’s face as he closed the door behind him. Leo tilted his head, not saying a word as he made his way over and climbed up onto Donnie’s bed, joining the slowly growing pile of turtles. As soon as he settled in beside Mikey, leaning back against the headboard, Leo lifted his arm and wrapped it around Mikey’s shoulders, pulling both him and Donnie a little closer.

Mikey seemed alright with the comfort, leaning into Leo’s touch as his own two hands clutched tight to Donatello’s. It felt odd with only the three of them there. Sure, even if Raphael was here, he probably wouldn’t join in a silent cuddle pile, but it still felt wrong.

“How’s he doing?” Leo finally asked, keeping his voice soft as he looked down to Donnie. His wounds had been bandaged up and he didn’t look in nearly as much pain as before, his face gently illuminated by the candles Splinter had lit on the nightstand. He was still pale, and Leo could see the bruising peeking out from beneath the edge of the bandages, but at least he was alive and breathing.

“He’s okay, I guess. He hasn’t moved since I got in here, but Splinter said he’s shifted his hand once or twice.” Mikey replied softly, his eyes not moving from Donnie’s sleeping face. “Splinter keeps saying he’ll be okay. He thinks he’s got a bad concussion though.”

“Whatever hit him hit him hard.” Leo murmured, gently stroking Mikey’s arm. He could see the tension in Mikey’s shoulders, and besides physical comfort, he wasn’t sure what he could _say_ to ease it. Mikey was going to keep worrying; that was just a fact. It was what he did. But at least he could try to soothe some of it.

“Where’s Raph, Leo? He should be here.” Leo felt his heart clench as Mikey spoke again, sighing. He wasn’t wrong. Raphael _should_ have been there. He should be punching the wall and screaming and cursing out whoever had done this. He wasn’t, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t doing the same somewhere else.

“I don’t know, Mikey. But wherever he is, he’s probably giving them hell. Whoever did this isn’t gonna get off easy, and if they have Raphael, I’m pretty sure they’re in for the time of their lives trying to keep him down. Probably learning a thousand new curses, too.”

The little snort Mikey gave made Leo smile, glad he could help his brother at least that much. Letting go of a deep breath, Leo reached down and pulled up the blankets, covering Mikey’s shell. He let Mikey arrange the blanket over Donnie’s chest, the youngest being careful around his wounds and making sure he didn’t touch them. He was so careful, even if Donnie couldn’t feel it right now. _He cares so much._

“We should get some sleep.” Leo murmured, shifting a little to get more comfortable. “We’ll keep looking in the morning. We’ll find him, Mikey.”

“I know.”

Relaxing and reaching over to the nightstand, Leo put out all of the candles except for one, letting the low light soothe the room. Gently touching his snout to Mikey’s head, Leo rested his skull back against the headboard, keeping his eyes locked on the door. Just in case. Nothing was going to get in here tonight if he could help it.

“Go to sleep. I’ll take the first watch.”

“Okay. G’night, Leo.”

“Goodnight, Michelangelo.”

A few moments of silence as Mikey shifted to rest his head against Donnie’s chest, and Leo watched his eyes close. He prepared to get lost in his thoughts for the next few hours, blinking as Mikey spoke up again a moment later.

“G’night, Donnie.”

Leo couldn’t help but smile.


End file.
